The Dame of Easy
by BabyT2699
Summary: Rebecca Clark is beginning her journey in the Army Nurse Corps. This changes when she learns her father is dying and needs life saving surgery. About to go home, Rebecca learns of an experimental program that allows women into the Airborne as combat nurses. Needing extra money, she joins the prestigious program and is saddled with the task of saving her injured comrades in battle.
1. Chapter 1 - A Tough Decision

**Disclaimer:** I Do not own any characters, themes, or dialouge from the Band of Brothers series. This is a work of fiction and no disprespect is intended. I have the utmost respect for the men portrayed in the series. Any similarites in characters in unintentional and I only claim my OC's.

Yes, I have decided to re-upload my original fanfiction; however, it's far different from the first verison. Many storylines have changed and character developments. This time I plan to spend much more time on this story and get it the way I always imagined it to be.

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"Well-behaved women seldom make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"Little girls with dreams become girls with vision." - Unknown

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 **Chapter 1 - A Tough Decision**

New York City, 1942 

Rebecca made her way down 34th street weaving through the never ending strings of people, her head in a fog. The young Lieutenant simply couldn't clear her mind from that upsetting letter. When Rebecca first received the it, she knew it wasn't good news seeing that it was from her father's friend and not directly from her father.

Rebecca expected the same old news from John. "Your dad is in jail after a bar fight." or "Your dad was found on the side of the road and his wallet's gone." However, nothing could have prepared her for what was in that letter.

 _Dear Becca,_

 _I wish I was writing you under different circumstances, but your father has gotten into another car accident after a night of heavy drinking. I got the call this morning and the doctors have reason to believe he's got cirrhosis of the liver, or some damn thing. Regardless, I don't think your dad will be able to pull through this one, kiddo. He's real sick and they're keeping him in the hospital. The doctor said if he wants any chance of surviving, he'll have to get a transplant. We're talking about some big bucks now, kid. I'm talking about more than you and I could ever afford. This is all just a long winded way of telling you that your dad needs you back here to take care of him and to pay for the surgery. I spoke with the head nurse on your dad's floor and she's willing to give you a position that pays a lot better than being in Army. I'm awfully sorry to be forcing this on you, but your dad needs your help._

 _John_

Every time she thought about it, her stomach filled with nausea and her eyes welled with tears. Rebecca just couldn't believe all of this was happening now. She had just graduated OCS and was about to select where in the army she wanted to go. Only the top five in the class get that privilege. Rebecca had worked hard to get to where she was. She worked two jobs to get her through nursing school, dragged herself to the top five in her class only to be told "fuck it all" and go home.

Everything around her seemed to slow. The lights of Times Square suddenly blinded her and the air became suffocating. This was an impossible decision. Angry tears pricked at her brown eyes threatening to fall. Rebecca quickly wiped them away on her uniform jacket. She was supposed to be enjoying her time in New York with her friends before moving up in the army. Now, all she could think about was this.

She didn't want to go home and she certainly didn't want to leave the Army. Rebecca loathed that her father had done this to himself and she was pissed. He was so selfish. Ever since her mom died, all he did was drink away his pain as if he was the only one suffering. God, Rebecca hated him right now.

He wasn't always like this and it's not like he was an abusive drunk either. When she was younger her father drank at night when Rebecca was sleeping and only the next morning would she learn of his drunken escapades.

After being trapped inside her own mind, Rebecca realized how far she had gotten down 34th without even knowing it. She forgot why the hell she was even out tonight.

 _Stockings, that's right. I need new stockings._

Rebecca's uniform regulation stockings had a run in them and needed new ones before she returned to the army and received a uniform infraction. As Rebecca kept her goal in sight she couldn't help but wonder why the damn things weren't made with more strength; they ripped so easily.

XXX

The white building of Macy's stood at the end of the street, it's distinct features illuminated by the neon lights of Times square. Rebecca approached the revolving doors, carefully entering the enormous shopping building.

She was taken aback by just how big the shopping store was. They didn't have anything like this back in Rhode Island. It seemed like the floor went on forever. Racks and racks of clothes, shelves stocked with endless ways to spend money.

Rebecca ogled at it all, not knowing where to start. She needed one thing and this place was like a maze. At this rate she would be there all damn night.

Across the floor a sales employee must have sensed her confusion. Locking eyes with Rebecca, the tall blonde strode over to her in her black skirt suit, long legs striding in heels that hit the floor with a clop.

"Miss, can I help you find something?" The fair faced employee asked.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rebecca felt that she might actually get out of this place in a timely fashion.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm looking for panty hose."

In no time, the clerk pointed Rebecca in the right direction. She successfully grabbed the hosiery and headed for the checkout line.

The line was considerably lengthy given that it was 9 o'clock at night so with her item in hand, Rebecca waited. Her eyes scanned through the store looking at all the latest fashion picks of the year but it wasn't the flashy dressed and suits that caught her attention. Instead it the latest edition of Life Magazine that made her eyes do a double take.

On the front cover of the magazine was what looked to be an American soldier falling to the ground, a parachute attached to his back.

Rebecca picked up the thin magazine, flipping to the article and began skimming. It appeared that there was a new branch in the Army called the Airborne. Rebecca had heard of it and its prestige. Not only was it an extremely competitive program, but it also paid an extra fifty bucks a month. This was an extremely competitive group; only the best of the best were made paratroopers.

Finishing up skimming through the article a small paragraph at the end with Uncle Sam himself pointing at her caught her eye.

 _Attention all Army nurses! Your country needs you!_

 _The Airborne is now accepting applications for an experimental program that will integrate nurses to become combat paratroopers. Fill out applications in your local recruiting locations. Only one woman will be chosen for this prestigious program. Good luck!_

Rebecca stood in the line completely floored. This was what she needed, a godsend! It may be a long shot but if she is the one the Army selects, this could solve all her problems! The extra fifty a month would most definitely help her father and she could still stay in the Army and pursue her dreams.

The gears in Rebecca's mind turned; she knew exactly where she was going next.

Rebecca was suddenly overwhelmed with utter excitement. She didn't even realize the line had moved worlds ahead of her.

"Hey, lady, come on! The lines moving!" An angry man behind Rebecca shouted.

"Sorry!" Rebecca apologized quickly moving ahead, placing the magazine back on its shelf.

Hosiery in hand, Rebecca hurried out of the store and back to her hotel. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach with every step she took.

\- End of Chapter -


	2. Chapter 2 - Worry and Woe

Last Time: Rebecca learns about Airborne.

"The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else." - Unknown

Now: Rebecca tells a friend her plans.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Worry and Woe**

Rebecca damn near sprinted back to Hotel Carter where her and a few others from the corps were staying. They had all come here for a much-needed break after graduating and all decided that New York City was the perfect way to blow off some steam before heading to their first assignment.

She bolted into the doors and through the lobby passing by confused guests and employees. Rebecca didn't care how crazy she looked, she needed to get back to her room and talk to the girls.

Rebecca impatiently tapped her foot waiting for the elevator to come and nearly tackled the operator when the golden doors opened.

"Sorry, mister. The eighth floor please," Rebecca quickly apologized to the stunned man.

The short and dark haired man cracked a nervous smile at her. "You in a hurry?"

Rebecca laughed realizing how insane she must have looked to him, sprinting through the lobby with a box of pantyhose in hand. "Is it that obvious?" She panted.

"Well," he began, pressing the button to Rebecca's floor, "Judging by how you almost took me out just now, yes. I hope whoever needed those stockings is in just as much of a hurry as you."

Rebecca blushed and nervously began to pick at the edge of the box. The elevator reached her floor at last. Rebecca stuck her hand out to the operator offering a shake.

"Sorry again," Rebecca smirked at the young man.

He took her hand and shook it, completely forgetting about the past grievance. "No worries, uh." He paused, not knowing her name.

"Becca." She confirmed, continuing to shaking his hand.

"James," He stated. "Nice to meet you, Becca."

Rebecca exited the elevator and waited until the doors were closed again before continuing to sprint to her room. She stopped at the door and shakily unlocked, bursting through once she had opened it.

"Michelle!" She called out.

Rebecca scanned the room and didn't see a sign of her friend.

"Michelle!" Rebecca shouted again.

Not a moment later, Michelle stumbled out of the bathroom, panic accompanying her face.

"Jesus, Rebecca! What's the matter? I was just about to get into the bath!"

Michelle looked at Rebecca like she had ten heads. Her long blonde hair was up in curlers and her tall and slender body was wrapped in the plush, white bathrobe that came complimentary with the room.

"I just figured out what I'm going to do!"

Michelle crossed her arms, waiting for Rebecca's response.

"I'm going to Airborne school!" She beamed. "It pays an extra fifty a month and they're allowing one girl in as part of an experiment." Rebecca huffed, still out of breath.

"You mean they're allowing a girl into combat?" Michelle doubted. "Hold on, Becca. Sit down and explain to me what's going on."

Rebecca took a seat on her bed with Michelle and told her everything that lead up to that moment.

Michelle looked down at the ground, sadness flickering in her hazel eyes. "You could die." She murmured.

"I know but, I have to do this. I don't want to go back home. Applying is the only way I can stay in the Army and send money home to my dad." Her voice wavering.

Rebecca grabbed Michelle's hand holding it firmly and looking into her eyes. Michelle looked terrified. The two had been inseparable since they met in OCS and the possibility of one of them dying scared them both to death.

"You know that I have to."

Michelle took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh, trying to shake the horrible thoughts from her mind. "Okay, we'll go tomorrow and apply for this thing."

Rebecca cracked a small grin at her friend but Michelle still didn't seem entirely too thrilled yet.

"Before you go and get too excited, you said only one woman gets accepted?" Michelle asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happens if you don't get in or if you drop out?"

Rebecca let go of her hands and became very serious, her eyes falling to the ground. "Then, I guess I'll have to go home."

XXX

Rebecca stared up at the white ceiling of her dark room, allowing every possibility and outcome to boil in her mind. This certainly didn't help quell the anxiety that was brewing inside of her. Rebecca's brown eyes glanced over at Michelle's sleeping form, jealous of the fact that she could always fall asleep so quickly, even with a ton her mind. Rebecca breathed out quietly.

 _How on earth could she sleep?_

XXX

The two woman woke up the next morning, getting dressed in total silence. It felt more like they were going to a funeral rather than applying for a new job. The commitment weighed heavily on both them.

As Rebecca finished buttoning her uniform jacket last minute ideas popped into her head. Thinking of going back home to take care of her father made her stomach flip and thoughts of going into combat made her feel nauseous. Suddenly, buttoning her jacket became impossible as her hand began to shake.

Michelle looked over to see her friend beginning to struggle and walked over, holding her shaking hands. "Rebecca, it's going to be okay."

The sincerity in Michelle's voice helped calm Rebecca's trembling hands but her heart was still thumping out of her chest.

"Come on, we need to get moving," Michelle said, letting go of Rebecca's hands.

The pair grabbed their handbags, locking the door behind them. As they began walking to the elevator Michelle spoke up again.

"I called for a cab, it should be waiting outside. When we get to the recruiting center I'll try to stay with you for as long as possible but you're gonna have to be on your own for the physical."

Rebecca could only nod. Any attempt to talk was only met with a hoarse squeak every time she opened her mouth.

The golden doors of the elevator opened, revealing the same operator that Rebecca barreled into the night before. James stood by the control panel his smile fading when he saw Rebecca's grim look. She glanced at him giving him a look that if he could interpret properly meant "Don't ask."

He figured something bad must've happened and he didn't know the woman well enough to ask if she was okay. James just simply pushed the button to the floor requested by Michelle and continued the ride in silence.

He watched Rebecca enter the lobby when the elevator stopped, wondering about the woman.

\- End Chapter -

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 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry for it being so late! I'll update weekly as best as I can. If you like changes and the story so far please let me know! :3


	3. Chapter 3 - The Application

Last Time: Rebecca decides upon joining the Airborne

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." - General George S. Patton

Now: Rebecca applies for Airborne school.

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 **Chapter 3 - The Application**

Rebecca drummed her fingers nervously against her knee in the recruiting office as she waited for her name to be called. She glanced around at the civilian men all waiting just like her. Each of their faces bore a different emotion; some with their eyebrows knitted as if they were dreading the inevitable, some eyes had a spark of excitement dancing in their eyes. Yet, they all kept glancing at her probably wondering what in the world two females already in the army were doing there. Rebecca quickly dropped her eyes as a man she was looking at made eye contact with her. Her drumming became more intense.

"Hey," Michelle muttered, placing a warm hand over Rebecca's spazzing one. "Quit it."

Rebecca let out an exasperated sigh and quickly folded her hands in her lap. "Sorry, I don't even know why I'm so darn nervous."

Michelle took Rebecca's tightly folded hands and gripped onto it, rubbing soothing circles into them. "Just relax, there's nothing to be nervous about. You're just filling out papers today. Be nervous when there's something to be nervous about."

She was right. Rebecca hadn't even filled out the application yet. The real anxiety-inducing part was the wait. The only date to fill out the application was today and it took about two the three days to find out which woman was picked. Rebecca felt like her heart would give out in that time.

"Clark, Rebecca!" An unfamiliar voice called out.

Rebecca darted up from her chair and walked to the man who called her name. She turned to Michelle, their eyes connecting. "Good luck" was the final thing Rebecca made out from her friend's lips.

"Follow me, ma'am," The young private said.

He was very stern for his age and could only be about twenty years old or so. His dark features and intense gaze made him seem a lot older for his age.

Nevertheless, Rebecca did as she was told and followed the young man. She noticed him looking down at his clipboard and lead her to the application office a few doors down the hall from where the waiting room was. Rebecca looked at the door and read the name plaque on the door, Captain A. Morris.

"This is Captain Morris's office. He'll be asking you a few questions and then you'll fill out the application. Knock before entering. Upon entering give your name and rank and wait for further instructions."

Rebecca's head began to spin and a cold wave washed over her body. She looked at the private and saw him reading off his clipboard. Whoever this captain was, he meant business.

"Good luck," The private uttered as he walked away.

Rebecca just stared at the door, her fist clenching as she prepared to knock. She let out three stern knocks, signaling her arrival.

"Come in," A voice rang.

She slowly opened the door and entered as calmly as she could, not wanting to draw too much attention toward herself. Rebecca picked up her hand in a hearty salute, her eyes seeing the rather uninterested captain writing something down in his notes.

"Lieutenant Clark, sir."

Captain Morris finally looked up from his work to acknowledge to young woman saluting him. He immediately locked his ocean blue eyes with her brown ones.

Rebecca couldn't help but notice right away how attractive this man was, yet so serious. It was like everyone in the office had a stick perpetually up their ass. His blonde hair and blue eyes had the capability of making any girl swoon. Too bad he had the personality of a wet towel.

"At ease, Lieutenant. Sit." He ordered, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk.

Without hesitation, she sat down in the leather-clad chair, immediately sinking into it.

Captain Morris looked down at a file adjacent to the paper he was writing on and dragged the brown portfolio over it. He glanced at her and then back down at the stack of papers.

"So," he began, "You're looking to apply to the Airborne, Lieutenant. Is that correct?"

His quick glance at her made Rebecca feel like a creature under a microscope being carefully scrutinized. Her palms began to sweat.

"Yes, sir." She managed to force out.

Captain Morris picked up his pencil, tapping it on the file. "This is a very competitive program you're applying to and requires a very lengthy application."

He opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a bound stack of papers, placing it on his desk. "Now, before you waste anymore more of my time and yours, are you sure you want to do this?"

Rebecca examined the stack, second thoughts beginning to fill her head. It was a lot of paper to go through. She quickly shook the thoughts right out of her head. Of course, she was going to go through with it.

"Yes, sir."

The captain took in a deep breath, seemingly annoyed by her answer, he took a pen from his collection on the desk. "Alright, here you go." He sighed, handing over the application and pen.

"Take a seat over by that desk and let me know if you have any questions or if you're done."

She took the stack from Captain Morris and made her way over to the cheap desk and chair a few feet from the monstrous one he sat at. Rebecca took a seat on the creaky chair, took off her cap, and began filling out page one.

As she made her way through the annals of the application, the questions became more and obscure, like how she did in her senior year math class of high school and what was her rank upon graduation. Each minute question she filled out, the more nerve-racking filling out the packet became. The pen began to slip from in between her fingers as her palms quivered.

When Rebecca finally scribbled her last response, she glanced at her watch. It had taken her two hours to fill out the application! She dropped the pen and leaned back the chair, letting out a frustrated sigh. Her writing hand was trembling and cramped. Upon completion, Rebecca got up from the chair, pushing it back into the desk. She felt all the tension built up in her hand melt away as she made her way over to the Captain's desk, cap and application in hand.

He looked up at Rebecca and put out his hand awaiting the stack of papers. "Done?"

"Yes, sir." She replied placing her cap back on.

Captain Morris briefly skimmed through it and looked up back at the flustered woman before him. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You'll receive word in the mail in about two to three days."

Rebecca stood in front of the Captain, her mind scrambled. "Th-thank you, sir," she weakly got out as she began walking towards the door.

As the door closed behind her, Rebecca's eyes fluttered in an attempt to process what just happened. Her legs carried her back to the waiting room where she spotted Michelle conversing with a young man in the chair next to her.

"Hey! Gee whiz you sure took a long time in there."

Rebecca rubbed her face with her hands. "The application was really long." She felt like she had aged ten years in the two hours she was in that room.

Michelle looked at the flustered woman up and down. "You look terrible."

"Thanks, I feel terrible. Sorry for making you wait for so long." Rebecca apologized.

A smirk peeled on Michelle's lips. "Eh, don't worry about it. I made a new friend." She looked at the cute young man sitting next to her and winked. "Come on, let's get back to the hotel."

Rebecca only rolled her eyes and let Michelle lead the way back to her their room.

\- End Chapter -

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 **A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry about my absense from this story; I just began university and my summer was hell. I'm going to try and upload as much as I can. If you like the chapter please leave a review, fav, and follow to let me know how I'm doing! :3 **  
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	4. Chapter 4 - The Hard Part

Last Time: Rebecca applies for Airborne school.

"Do one thing that scares you everyday." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Now: Rebecca and Michelle meet up with a friend.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - The Hard Part**

"So, how do you think it went?" Michelle asked, prodding Rebecca in the rib cage with her elbow.

The impending rain that threatened the city pretty much summed up how Rebecca felt as the two began their journey back to the hotel.

Rebecca looked up at the glum New York sky sighing. "I don't know! They asked me about everything; my math scores, my extracurriculars, you name it." She exclaimed.

Michelle saw the distressed look on Rebecca's face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She knew that Rebecca tended to worry herself sick over things she had no control over. "You can't worry about it too much. You did your part and that's the only thing you have control over."

"Let's just get back to the hotel before it starts to downpour."

XXX

James sat on a plush velvet covered bench next to the elevator doors, enjoying the last few puffs of his cigarette, when a loud crack of thunder pulled him from his thoughts. He drew a long puff from his coffin nail, his eyes fixated on the revolving door and the rain splattering down on the pavement. James still wondered about what Rebecca was so preoccupied with this morning. The last time he saw the woman, she nearly barged him down in the elevator from excitement, then the next moment she looked like she just lost her best friend.

James sighed, plucking the cigarette from his lips and flicking it in the ashtray beside him. He just couldn't work out female emotions.

The sucking sound of the revolving door drew James's attention to the front of the lobby. He watched as Rebecca and the other girl she left with this morning scurried inside to escape the rain.

Both women had their dress jackets canopied over their heads to shield their hands from the rain. Typical women, James chuckled, always worried about their hair.

He figured they were both headed back to their room so he preemptively pressed the elevator button and strode over to the pair.

"Didn't know it was gonna rain today?" James snickered at the two.

Both shot him annoyed glares as they took their wet jackets and draped them over their arms. James looked at Rebecca and could sense something was still on her mind. Her dark brown eyes flickered with worry and she wore a frown that he knew wasn't just because she was caught out in the rain.

"Very funny, James," Rebecca retorted, as she attempted to slick back her already curling bun.

James felt a little pang of guilt for making the already frustrated woman more upset, so he attempted to make it right.

"Here," he motioned for the gal's jackets. "I'll take them to the drycleaners."

He watched a bit of surprise make its way onto Rebecca's face.

"That's awful sweet of you," Rebecca thanked, handing over her jacket.

The other woman, whom James didn't know looked at him curiously. "I didn't know you two were on a first name basis." She said, insinuating something else.

Rebecca quickly shot a glare at her friend trying to dismiss what she just said.

"Sorry, I don't believe we've been properly acquainted. I'm Michelle." She stuck out her hand for James to shake.

James smiled back at the slightly taller woman and gently shook her hand. To him, Michelle seemed to be the type of gal that had men lining up to dance with her, the type men ogled over. She was a Lana turner type, long legs, delicate features, and doe eyes that could make any man swoon. However, James didn't find himself particularly awestruck by Michelle.

"Pleasure."

James's attention flickered back towards Rebecca who was wiping down her skirt and patting her blouse from the rain that accumulated on it.

"I got the elevator for you ladies," James said, gesturing to the golden doors.

Michelle smirked at the man then at Rebecca. "Well, ain't that sweet. First you take our laundry then you get the elevator for us. Gee, this service is better than Biltmore."

James smiled a toothy grin. "Well, I'm up for a raise pretty soon."

Both laughed and began walking to the elevator. The three stepped in and James followed, pressing the button to their floor.

As the car began to depart, he still wanted to know what happened this morning that made Rebecca so upset. James knew it was none of his business but found himself on the verge of asking.

"So, this morning both of you looked a little upset, mind if I ask why?"

Rebecca looked up and sighed. "Just crazy army stuff, is all. We're deciding what division we want to go in since we graduated OCS. I decided on the Airborne."

James was taken aback. He heard about the Airborne but he didn't know that women were allowed to join. "I didn't know dames were allowed in."

"Neither did I until last night. I saw a Time's article on it."

The elevator made it to their floor and the two women exited, leaving James speechless and slackjawed.

Michelle and Rebecca turned back to see the astounded elevator operator. Both looked at each other and laughed.

"Hey, it's 1943. Times have changed especially since we're at war." Rebecca stated trying to snap James out of his stupor.

The golden doors of the elevator slowly began to close and James shook the shock out of himself. "Yeah, I guess so," He muttered to himself.

XXX

The two officers entered their room and breathed a sigh of relief once they flung their regulation dress heels across the floor. The hectic day was finally over.

However, as soon as Rebecca lied down on her bed to rest her eyes, Michelle flung herself on top of Rebecca's bed causing her to jerk awake.

"So, you and James seem pretty familiar with each other." Michelle smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Rebecca sat up in her bed, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. "Why do you always have to go there? He's just someone I bumped into in the elevator and he can hold a conversation. Big deal."

"Yeah, but you guys really seem to click," She said, emphasizing the last word.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and took one of the plush pillows on her bed and tossed it at her friend. She could never understand how even in the most serious situations, Michelle's mind always went to pairing her up with some guy she hardly knew.

"You know, contrary to popular belief, not everyone is looking for a fella to have linked to their arm 24/7."

"Hey, he could be someone to write to when you're away at Airborne school." Michelle defended, throwing the pillow back at Rebecca. "You're such an old lady!"

"And you're khaki wacky!" Rebecca quipped, fixing her hair from the pillow assault.

Once Michelle finally dropped the argument, Rebecca laid back down on her bed. A sudden pit formed at the bottom of her stomach. Now, came the hard part: waiting.

\- End Chapter -

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 **A/N:** I hope you liked the chapter, I know it was a bit of filler but I hope you enjoyed it none the less. If you did please let me know how I'm doing; feedback means everything! :3


	5. Chapter 5 - Toccoa

Last Time: Rebecca and Michelle talk with James.

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

Now: Rebecca gets her letter.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - Toccoa**

Rebecca stood in the middle of her hotel room, feeling completely glued to the floor weighed down by the small object she held in her hands. She rubbed her fingers over the embossed United States Army logo on the envelope, checking to see if it was real.

"Are you going to open it?" A familiar voice asked, calling Rebecca back to earth.

Rebecca turned the envelope over, preparing to tear it open.

"Anything that happens, I'm here for you." Michelle assured.

Rebecca's hands began to shake as she hastily opened the letter. She pulled out the folded the paper, opened it, and began reading. As she skimmed over the words her heart skipped a beat. Rebecca placed her hand over her heart.

"You didn't get it in?" Michelle asked, disappointment evident in her voice.

"No, I did." Rebecca whispered.

Rebecca didn't quite understand why she felt this way, well, she didn't know how to feel. This was supposed to be good news, but the sudden realization of what going into the Airborne, hit her like a ton bricks. Rebecca and Michelle would be separated. She would be going into combat.

"This is great news, Rebecca!" Michelle exclaimed trying to seem happy, but she understood what this meant too. "It's great!" She said again, this time her voice shaking and tears forming in her eyes.

Michelle took her friend in her arms and held her tight. She wouldn't be seeing her for a long time.

"I have my orders. I'm going to Toccoa, Georgia."

XXX

"The Airborne?" Rebecca's CO exclaimed.

Captain Marlene Weaver looked at the young Lieutenant before her, confusion laced on her brow.

"Lieutenant Clark, this requires you to apply and the chance you'll make it in are slim to none."

Rebecca shifted in her chair and pulled out her letter of acceptance, handing it over to the older woman.

The Captain's eyes widened and she took the letter and read it. "Oh my God."

She read it over once, twice just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Weaver couldn't believe this was happening so out of the blue let alone the fact Lieutenant Clark made it in.

"You had informed me you were thinking about shipping to Europe in a few weeks to work in a field hospital there. What happened between then and now that you're all of sudden changing your mind and joining the Airborne?"

Rebecca quickly sighed, a bit of guilt forming in her. She liked Captain Weaver and felt bad for ambushing her like this. "My situation changed. I recently found out that my father is very sick. I need the extra money and if I don't get it, I have to go home."

Captain Weaver didn't want to have to let her go. One, because she was an excellent nurse, and two, she didn't want Rebecca to get ripped to shreds. She took in a deep breath and signed her transfer papers.

"Lieutenant Clark, you were always my favorite. I wish you the best of luck. Do us proud." She smiled, handing Rebecca the papers.

XXX

Rebecca and Michelle stood and the train platform waiting for the train to make its inevitable stop. Rebecca gripped the handle of her suitcase tight and inhaled a deep breath of train fumes, trying to calm herself.

At long last the train came to a complete stop and so did Rebecca's heart. She turned to her dear friend and grabbed her hand.

"Well, this it." Michelle sighed.

Rebecca put her suitcase down on the concrete and took her friend into a hug. "I'll be okay, I promise. Just keep in touch with my dad. I'm sure he'll pitch a fit once he finds out what I'm up to." Rebecca smiled through tears.

"I will, but for the love of God, stay in touch. Write to me every chance you get, to James too!" Michelle urged.

Rebecca only could nod, speaking was too painful and threatened to bring more tears.

"Please don't die."

"I won't."

Both friends quickly hugged once more and Rebecca finally managed to board the train. Once on, she stopped at the first seat and looked out the window to her right, waiving once more to her dear friend.

As the train starting moving from the platform, she saw Michelle get farther and farther away.

Rebecca now truly felt alone.

XXX

 **Atlanta, Georgia**

After a long eighteen hour train ride, Rebecca was just itching to get off the metal prison. With her suitcase in hand, she practically ran to the train's door hankering to stretch her legs.

However, the minute her dress shoes hit the pavement, Rebecca was accosted with the dreadful Georgian summer. Her skin immediately began to sweat under her thick dress uniform and she felt her breath quicken as the humid air entered her lungs.

Not wanting to spend another moment under the fierce sun, Rebecca quickly took shelter under the bus station's canopy and waited for the the vehicle that would take her to her new adventure.

XXX

Looking out the bus's dirty window, Rebecca saw a sign that signified her arrival: Camp Toccoa read proudly on roadside sign outside of the base. She quickly fished out her orders from her dress coat pocket, ready to give to the guard at the checkpoint outside the base.

As Rebecca stepped off the bus, she noticed no one did with her. She at least expected a few men on liberty to be returning at the very minimum.

The bus started up and zoomed off, kicking up a cloud of dirt in it's wake.

Rebecca felt out of place. Had no other civilian men been expected to arrive with her? Did they even know she was coming?

Her misplaced demeanor must had been evident as a man in a military police uniform stepped out of the guard booth.

"Ma'am, is there something I can help you with?" The young man with firm features asked.

Rebecca met his gaze and sheepishly smile. "Yes," she admitted, presenting the guard with her documents, "I have orders."

The guard looked down at her papers, eyes widening. "Yes, ma'am! I'll show you to Colonel Sink's office."

The MP lead Rebecca to a jeep and even took Rebecca by surprise when he opened the door for her. She supposed the formalities around the fact that she was a woman didn't change despite the fact she was an officer. However, she highly doubted the Germans would treat her with such manors once she made it overseas. Rebecca quickly dashed the thoughts out of her mind; that wasn't the objective. Right now, all she should have her focus on was making it to see Col. Sink.

As the jeep continued on its path, barracks, training courses, and men in their PT gear or uniforms appeared out of the distance with various other buildings. The base was bustling with activity. Men with army haircuts were leaping and bounding through the obstacle courses; jumping over walls and high kneeing through ropes; others in calisthenic training. Some even seemed to be on break, playing basketball and other sports.

Rebecca's head was in a whirl. This was nothing like her training. They were sprinting, jumping, sparring, and doing all other various activities that was pretty much unfamiliar waters to her, save for the running.

The MP driving Rebecca to see Col. Sink, braked in front of a building that had HQ etched on the bricked side.

"This way, ma'am," The MP lead.

She was lead into the building and through a labyrinth of corridors. It would be nearly impossible for her to remember the way back outside. Rebecca gripped her suitcase even harder as she approached a door that read "Colonel Robert F. Sink". Her heart rate picked up and her hands began to sweat as the MP knocked on the door.

A male voice called out. "Yes?"

He opened the door for Rebecca. Steeling herself, she placed her bag outside of the office and walked in. The office was small and cumbersome with just a small window allowing a sliver of light enter the room. The desk took up a good majority of the room, that and the two plush leather armchairs Rebecca assumed was for people who has an audience with the Colonel like her, or were about to get bitched out for screwing up.

"Lieutenant Rebecca Clark, reporting for duty as ordered, sir," Rebecca said, giving her most heartfelt salute.

Colonel Robert Sink looked up from his paperwork, saluting the woman in return.

Rebecca looked at her new commander, quickly becoming familiar with his features. He was obviously old breed Army, with stern features, dark thinning hair and a well cultivated mustache.

"Lieutenant, please sit." He offered.

Rebecca was once again a little surprised by the formality the Colonel showed towards her. Surely he didn't offer any other soldier such things. However, she obliged him and took a seat on the ritzy looking leather armchair.

"First off, Lieutenant, I would like to congratulate you on being selected for this program," Col. Sink resounded.

For some reason, the man seemed genuinely happy for Rebecca. She thought that this program came straight from the White House from lack of enlistees. Rebecca didn't think that old breed military men like Sink would approve of such things. Then again, who knows who would green light such a project that allowed women into combat.

"Thank you, sir." She blurted, not expecting his genuineness.

"Now, time to get down to the nitty gritty details." He said. "You have been chosen for this program because of your outstanding performance in OCS. I'm not going to lie, this is going to be difficult for a woman to get adjusted to the routines of the men; however, there's no doubt that the skills you showed in your training as an Army nurse, that helped you achieve the top spot in your class, will aid you in training here."

Rebecca watched anxiously as Col. Sink fingered through her file and what was undoubtedly her application.

"Now, the relative rank you were given as an Army nurse will be replaced with full rank that any other male in the Army has. I'm sure we don't have to debrief you on the behaviors of an officer."

"No, sir," Rebecca added.

A sudden rush of excitement and pride washed over her. Moving from relative rank that women in the military customarily obtained, to a full rank comparable to that of a mans was a massive accomplishment.

"An officer in the Airborne is a massive responsibility and is a highly esteemed job. If you don't live up to the expectations we have for you, I guarantee you will wash out just like anyone else here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Rebecca nodded.

"Lieutenant, you will be placed in Easy Company. This company is projected to have highest dropout rates due to the harsh physical requirements. You're being placed here because you need to be the best of the best."

"Most of the men have just gotten here, so you are in the same position as them, more or less. Now," he continued, handing Rebecca a laminated pamphlet, "here is a list of requirements for you to follow General Lee and I formulated regarding medical needs, uniforms regulations, and protocol to follow if there's an incident with any of the men, officers included."

Rebecca took the glossy trifold from his weathered looking hand and quickly glanced down at it, not really registering any of the words that were printed on the page.

A brisk knock on the door drew Rebecca's eyes.

"Come in," Sink called.

A tall man with red hair and the most beautiful blue eyes Rebecca ever saw, entered the room. He had a very handsome and gentle look to him; his uniform was in pristine condition. He politely nodded and smiled at Rebecca. She found herself floored by this gentleman and unable to reciprocate.

"Ah, Lieutenant Winters," Sink said, ushering the man into the room to sit in the second chair. "This is Lieutenant Rebecca Clark, our latest medic and paratrooper."

Rebecca and Winter's eyes met and she knew at that moment he respected her as an equal and not just a woman. "Lieutenant Clark," he addressed, putting forth a hand to shake.

Rebecca shook herself out of her stupor and extended her hand out. The Lieutenant gently and respectfully shook it. Rebecca tried to do the same; she didn't want her nerves to break his fingers.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Winters started.

"Likewise," Rebecca smiled trying not to let her face blush as she met Winters's blue eyes.

Rebecca couldn't deny his handsome features. She found Lt. Winters very attractive. However, she knew such things simply weren't allowed. Instead, she simply stepped on any feelings she may be budding for the man.

"Lieutenant Winters here is the man in charge of Easy's second Platoon. He will be your platoon leader. Lieutenant Sobel, your new CO, oversees the training of the men and now of course, you," Sink continued, indicating Winters with his hand.

Rebecca nodded, agreeing. She hoped Lieutenant Sobel was as welcoming and polite as Winters appeared to be.

"Lt. Sobel was unable to meet with us today. I believe he's training the men in PT today, is that correct Lt. Winters?" Sink asked.

"Yes, sir. Lieutenant Sobel sends his apologies," Winters clarified, facing Rebecca.

"Don't worry. You'll get to know Sobel well. He's Easy's a damn fine CO and I think you'll soar under his command." Sink assured.

Rebecca however, wasn't exactly buying it. She didn't know if her new CO was actually busy at the moment or he just wanted to get out meeting the new woman that would be joining his ranks. Rebecca wasn't dumb, she knew what a weasel of a CO looked and acted like.

"Now, Lieutenant Winters," Sink began, collecting a stack of papers and placing them on the corner of his desk, "Please show Lt. Clark to the officer's billet. You two are dismissed. Settle your gear and and go over the expectation manual I gave you."

Rebecca and Lieutenant Winters got up and saluted the stern Colonel. Both about faced and left.

Rebecca finally felt her heart rate begin to go back down to a normal pace as she exited the office and picked up her bag. She looked around the small waiting area for the MP but he was gone. Rebecca at least wanted to thank him for going out of his way for her.

She turned around and smiled at her new counter partner; Rebecca knew however, that he couldn't replace Michelle by any means.

"So, Lieutenant, let's get you settled." Winters suggested.

Rebecca inwardly laughed. He was still being so formal despite that they were alone. _Lieutenant Straightlaced._ She thought to herself. She could feel the awkwardness begin to set in. Rebecca suddenly felt fear run through her. She didn't want things to be estranged around her fellow officers because she was a women. Crushing this feeling was the only thing she could think of at the moment.

"Please, call me Becca, or Rebecca is you must ." She insisted, smiling.

He looked at her, smiling curiously. "My apologies, I wasn't sure what you would prefer."

"No apologies are necessary. I would want all the men to be comfortable enough around me; I want to be treated just like any other medic in the company."

Lieutenant Winters smiled at that and lead Rebecca away from Col. Sink's office and through the weaving halls of the HQ. Once outside, the sunlight and heat hit Rebecca instantly, making her want to get to the barracks even quicker.

"They just recently finished building the billets. Before, all we had were pup tents."

Rebecca glanced around. Everything did look very new and pristine. Rocks were laid down on the ground with little wooden borders to act as walkways and the wooden buildings that served as housing for the trainees looked hardly worn by the Georgia weather.

The base was still abuzz with men training in various ways and as she walked with Winters, some caught a glance of the only woman in a uniform and quickly did a double take. Rebecca would have thought every company on the base would know she was coming, not just hers.

"Do all the company's know about this integration program?" She asked Winters.

He turned his head to meet her gaze as they walked. "Not that I know of."

Rebecca sighed. "They all look surprised."

"It doesn't matter what they think, Rebecca. You're here to do a job; if they can't respect that, that's too bad for them."

That resonated with her a little bit. What did it matter if other companies knew she was here? Easy was her only concern, no one else.

After passing a few barracks, Winters stopped at the officer's housing.

"Here we are," He said, stepping up to the door, opening it, and allowing Rebecca in first.

The barrack seemed nice enough. There were rows metal beds with thin mattresses on the frames with even thinner sheets. _Good for the summer._ Rebecca surmised. Above each bed was a shelving area with a hanging rod, not doubt for dress uniforms, and at the foot of the bed was a wooden footlocker.

 _Not too bad._ Rebecca thought, even nice, if she dared, especially since this was the army.

"Your gear is on your bed, dinner is at 1800. If you need anything, please let me know," Winters told. "If that's all, I'll be on my way."

"Thank you Lieutenant, I look forward to working with you," Rebecca thanked, shaking his hand.

Winters smiled at the woman. "Please, call me Dick."

She nodded at the him and waited for Dick to leave the barracks before she made a full on dash to an empty bed. On top of the freshly made bed was her gear. For some reason, getting new gear was exciting to her.

On top of some clothes were her new dog tags. Rebecca picked them up and examined the shiny metal. They shined brilliantly compared to that of her old her pair. As she set aside her new tags, she picked up what looked like her PT uniform which came with a white t-shirt with a parachute on it and "U.S. Paratroops, Camp Toccoa, GA." proudly on it and a very short pair of black cotton PT shorts. Rebecca prayed to God that they didn't come up too short on her. She didn't want to give the men she was training with a show. She considered herself a modest woman and wouldn't be caught dead in something too short and revealing. However, she couldn't complain if she wanted to be treated equally. Rebecca put her PT uniform aside and examined her new olive drabs and boots. The drabs were familiar to her, but the boots however, weren't. The were made of hard, corrugated leather and were very heavy.

Rebecca changed into her olive drabs, all the while hoping that no one would enter when she was doing so, and attempted to put on her boots. She winced in pain as she forced her foot into the boot. They were massively uncomfortable and needed to be broken into like a new pair of ice skates. As she tied them up the laces dug into the palms of her hands. She swore they would be virtually indestructible once she got into combat based on how they felt like cinder blocks attached to her feet. As Rebecca began walking up and down the corridor of the barracks to attempt to break in the boots a smidge, she felt the leather pinch her toes and rub up against her skin. Blisters would be inevitable.

All the other gear Rebecca recognized and moved aside, so she began to unpack her suitcase and placed everything else away in her footlocker and hung up her dress uniform.

Finally settled, she grabbed the pamphlet given to her by Sink and examined the glossy paper paper. Rebecca scoffed as she read of over the cover.

"Being a woman in the Airborne is very prestigious, so act it!" It said in jaunty font and a woman in uniform on the cover.

 _Only a man could've thought of this._

Rebecca opened the pamphlet and began browsing over the "expectations" the pamphlet had for her.

1\. Hair must be kept cheek length and out of one's face at all times.

2\. Feminine hygiene product must be neatly and discreetly stored.

3\. Fraternization with any of the men will result in expulsion from the Airborne.

4\. Any unbecoming attitudes from any of the men must be reported to a commanding officer with names and specific grievances.

At that point Rebecca tossed the pamphlet straight into the trash.

"What a waste of trees." She mumbled.

Suddenly, a grumble erupted in her stomach. Rebecca glanced at her watch and panicked that it was already 1605. With a fire lit under her ass all at once, she strode out of the barracks, a strut in her step, boots still still pinching her feet. It was time to meet the men.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

A/N: Sorry this chapter is up so late. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed. We finally get to meet the boys! Please let me know how I'm doing so far and if you like the changes I've made.


	6. Chapter 6 - A New Friend

Last Time: Rebecca arrives at Toccoa.

"If you treat people right they'll treat you right... Ninety percent of the time." - FDR

Now: Rebecca meets a new face.

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - A New Friend**

Rebecca walked towards the officers mess hall with butterflies practically gnawing at her stomach. She wasn't quite sure if the hunger made this feeling worse, however, all she knew was that she had to face her fellow men eventually, prolonging the inevitable was pointless.

Gravel from the pathway crunched under her new boots as Rebecca continued her way to the mess hall. As the small wooden hut got closer, she couldn't help but wonder what the men were going to think of her, a woman, seemingly invading their territory. Men had impossibly fragile egos and she had no idea how they would take to her presence.

Finally approaching the door entrance to the mess hall, Rebecca took a deep breath, calming her nerves and steeling herself.

She opened the door and resolutely stepped inside. Rebecca glanced around and met the eyes of a few of her new colleagues. Some looked a bit surprised but must have noticed that she exuded the army persona. There was a look, a stature, and a attitude that one soldier to another recognized. And, just like that, they went back to their meals unperturbed by the woman.

Rebecca got in line for food, grabbing a tray, a plate, and some digging tools from the stack, placing it on the counter and waited for the slop to appear. The cooks looked unphased, just trying to get through their shift so they could retire for the evening. One cook working the line slapped a piece of thick white bread on her plate, then drenched it in a creamy meat sauce, and finished his work by giving her a side of dried out peas.

 _Army food,_ Rebecca thought, _Always five star, even in the Airborne._

With a tray in hand she stepped to the watercooler and poured a tall glass for herself. A nice cold glass of water was in order after enduring the hot Georgian sun.

Rebecca glanced around the hall. Now,to find a seat. Nothing was more awkward and embarrassing than standing around looking for an empty spot. It made it painfully obvious that she had nowhere to go. She hastily scanned the room again and by the grace of God, honed in on a seemingly open seat next to a dark-haired gentleman sitting across from a redhead, perhaps Dick.

She made a beeline over and was spot-on in assuming it _was_ Dick Winters sitting with another fella, chumming it up. Catching eyes with him, she smiled.

"May I sit with you, gentlemen?"

Dick politely covered his full mouth with a napkin. "Of course, Rebecca."

Rebecca sighed in relief and placed her tray in the vacant spot.

"Rebecca, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, Commander of second platoon and my good friend." Dick said, extending a hand out to Nixon. "Nix, this is our newest recruit, Lieutenant Rebecca Clark. She'll be one of medics in the field and will oversee all medical affairs of Easy Company."

Lewis Nixon was very handsome with dark hair, eyes, sharp features to match. He looked at Rebecca with a smirk and presented a hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you. I have to say, I didn't think they were serious when they told us a woman would be joining up."

Rebecca shook his hand and quipped, "Well, they figured they needed a woman to straighten things out over there."

Nixon looked a little a surprised by the comment, but smiled and chuckled all the same. "A sense of humor, I like it."

Rebecca was pleasantly surprised at how well she got along with Nix. He was a stark contrast from Dick's straight-laced attitude and they balanced each other off very well. Nix was as smart as a whip an made perfect sense that he was an intelligence officer. Rebecca found it fascinating that they both met in OCS at Fort Benning and followed one another to the Paratroopers. Dick and Nix's friendship very much reminded Rebecca of her's and Michelle's: both total opposites but complementing one another perfectly.

"So," Nix continued, shoving another spoon-full of grub into his mouth, "what made you decide to join up, anyhow?"

Rebecca glanced down at her meal. She wasn't quite sure yet if she was willing to disclose such personal details with the two. After all, they had just met each other today. Taking a sip from her glass, Rebecca elected to tell a quick white lie.

"For the experience; I couldn't see myself stuck in a hospital somewhere in England when the action was elsewhere. I love the trauma aspect of nursing, being able to test your quick thinking on life or death situations."

Nix put his spoon down. "I meant why did you join the army in general?"

"Oh, that," Rebecca frowned. "I needed an escape from my boring homelife. I wanted to pursue a different kind of nursing career. Rhode Island was too boring and small for me. Plus, they needed the help anyways."

It was true. She did need to escape her homelife but for different reasons than she was alluding to, and Rhode Island was too small for her.

"Fair enough." He replied.

"That's a noble thing to do. Especially since no one forced you to join," Dick joined in.

Rebecca wasn't exactly sure she saw it that way.

"Tomorrow should be a fun day for you, Rebecca. You get to meet our CO, Sobel," Nix said sarcasm lacing every word.

"Yeah, I'm not holing out any hope he going to pleased about a woman joining his ranks."

Both Nix and Dick glanced at each other.

"Oh, trust me. He'll treat you just as poorly as any of us. Besides, he knew this would happen sooner or later. All this," Nix waved his arm around, "the paratroops is an experiment and I don't think anyone can afford to be upset when they bring in new subjects when they're ones themselves."

Rebecca smiled at that sentiment even though he just called her a test subject. But nevertheless, it made her slowly begin to feel like she belonged here.

XXX

Rebecca, Nix, and Dick finished their meals, headed out of the mess hall, and to the barracks.

Exhaustion suddenly hit Rebecca like a freight train going at full speed. It had been a long day. She decided it would be a good time to retire for the night in order to be well rested for formation tomorrow.

Rebecca felt nerves hit her as she thought about the start of her training as a paratrooper, but sleep soon overtook her as she undressed and slipped into bed. She would had no other choice but to deal with it tomorrow.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm Sorry this chapter is so small and my posting is super inconsistent. I have a lot going on at the moment and I'm starting my second semester of college and unfortunately, writing gets put on the back burner. I'm trying to work on this as best I can and I promise I'll finish this flaming hot garbage, train-wreck story. Leave a comment and a favorite for more trash similar to this!


	7. Chapter 7 - The Boys

Last Time: Rebecca gains an allie.

"If you're going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill

Now: Rebecca meets her new CO and trains with Easy.

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - The Boys**

The next morning, Easy Company was waiting in formation for their CO, Lieutenant Sobel. Normally, Rebecca wouldn't have minded the heat, but boy was it hot, way hotter than the summers in Rhode Island. Bugs were flying everywhere and she noticed Nix standing adjacent to her, smack a fly on his neck. She felt all eyes on her as she moved in with Dick and the other officers. She heard a few whispers behind her.

"That must be the dame that's gonna be fighting with us." Someone whispered

"Shh! She's a Lieu, you can't call her a dame!" A cautionary voice murmured.

"I just can't believe they chose our company! That clearly means we're the best out of everyone."

Rebecca smirked to herself. It was like she was some kind of deity to them. Either that or they were annoyed by her presence. The mumbling made it hard to tell.

"You people are at the position of attention!" Sobel yelled, startling everyone and hushing the whispers.

Rebecca felt an onslaught of nerves as her new CO approached them. Sobel was a tall fellow with dark hair perfectly parted and slicked back with gel, stern eyes, and a very large nose. He almost looked a little too put together considering they were in the toughest training in the army. Sobel paced around the company, giving everyone a once over, looking for infractions. He found his first victim.

"Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?"

The short man named Perconte snapped to attention and offered up his rifle for inspection. "No, sir."

Sobel's eyes darted down to the man's boots, "Than explain the creases at the bottom."

"No excuse sir."

"Volunteering for the parachute infantry is one thing, Perconte, but you've got a long way to prove that you belong here. Your weekend pass is revoked."

Perconte accepted his punishment reluctantly, even though he knew Sobel was full of shit.

Rebecca's eyes quickly filled with shock as Sobel established himself as their CO with every soldier he picked on. This man was a hardass and now she understood what Nix was talking about at dinner last night. This man was going to make all their lives hell on earth.

Sobel weaved his way through the men and picked out the next sorry man.

"Name?" Sobel sneered, coming inches apart to his next victim.

"Luz, George."

Luz presented his rifle to Sobel and this time he actually took the weapon to inspect.

"Dirt in the rear side aperture. Pass revoked."

Rebecca was astonished. He was going to go through every man and would no doubt find something to punish them for, justified or not. Rebecca was almost certain he would find something to pick on her for. Dread filled her.

Sobel moved on, looking for more ludicrous infractions. When he seemed satisfied, he made his way to the NCO's. He approached one sergeant who stood as a still as a statue, ready for his bombardment.

"When did you sew on the chevrons, Sergeant Lipton?"

"Yesterday, sir," Lipton replied.

"Long enough to notice this?" Sobel sneered, holding up an Irish pennant in front of Lipton. "Revoked."

"Sir," Lipton replied, gracefully accepting his punishment.

Sobel looked over the other NCO's one more time. Apparently satisfied, he moved back to the enlisted men.

"Name," Sobel barked, facing a red headed man.

"Malarkey, Donald G," Malarkey said swinging his rifle over his shoulder, presenting it to Sobel.

"Malarkey?" Sobel began, almost a tone of jest in his voice, "Malarkey's slang for bullshit, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir." He reluctantly agreed, probably hoping that nickname wouldn't stick.

Sobel took the rifle presented to him and examined it. Most likely unable to find and real infractions, he made one up.

"Rust on the butt plate hinge spring, Private Bullshit. Revoked," Sobel said, tossing the weapon back to Malarkey.

Rebecca watched as he walked back over to the officers, seemingly done with his ministrations, and hoped to God he would overlook her. But unfortunately, Sobel made eye contact with her. He smirked evilly and and started stomping over to her.

 _Shit._

"Name?" He barked, getting far too close to Rebecca's face.

"Rebecca, Clark, A, sir."

Rebecca presented her rifle to him which he overlooked. Instead he began to scan over her appearance. She thought for sure Sobel wouldn't be able to find anything. Rebecca had checked her uniform over at least three times to make sure she passed muster.

"I can see your hair sticking out of your helmet, Lieutenant Clark."

"No excuse, sir."

"You may have gotten yourself into this company with an officer's ranking and you may be a woman, don't think I'm going to treat you any differently. As far as a I'm concerned I'm to see that you fail even more so than the other men. I have higher standards and expectations for you, being our latest test experiment. To me, you're no more than a labrat."

"Yes, sir," Rebecca snarled. Now she knew for a fact that she had a nice, bright red target painted on her back.

Rebecca suddenly felt an inconsolable about of hatred and anger for Sobel. She was no labrat. She earned her spot here and there was no way on God's green earth this long-nosed jackass was gonna scare her away.

 _When hell froze over._ She thought.

She watched as Sobel made his way to the other men.

"Name?"

"Liebgott, Joseph D, sir."

Before Liebgott had a chance to present his rifle to Sobel, he went for his bayonet.

"Rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?"

"Yes, sir."

Sobel took the bayonet and banged it on Liebgott's helmet, emphasizing his point.

"Not with this."

Sobel turned around to face his company. "I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war, and I will not take you to war in your condition."

Sobel took the "rusty" bayonet and threw it into the ground.

"Now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass, has lost it."

Rebecca could almost feel the eyes of anger burning into all sides of her body. They hated him as much as she did, which was nice to know. It was a common interest.

"Change into your PT, gear we're running Currahee."

As Sobel walked away from the men, Winters did an about face towards his platoon.

"Second platoon fallout. We have two minutes."

Rebecca followed Winters and Nixon into the barracks. Feeling disgusted by her new CO, she flopped down on her bed not wanting to change into her PT gear.

"So, what did you think of Sobel?" Nixon smiled elbowing her.

"He's just fucking peachy." She sneered.

Rebeca didn't understand. Treating all his men like pieces of garbage was only going to make them resent him and pretty soon, he'll have a mutiny on his hands. Did Sobel want his men to hate him?"

Rebecca dashed her thoughts aside and changed into her PT gear, not caring about being modest in front of the men. She pulled the PT shirt over head and the black dingaling shorts that were far too short.

"Ah, don't let him get you down, Becca. You deserve to be here just as much as we do," Nixon said, pulling out a flask from his breast pocket and offering it to her.

"No thanks, Nix, and I don't think it's wise to drink before we run."

Nixon shrugged taking a swig, "You have to be drunk to climb that mountain."

 _Mountain?_ Rebecca thought, hesitation entering her mind.

However, she didn't have time to ponder on it. She finished tying her boots and scurried out the barrack door.

XXX

Rebecca soon found out why Nix said "you need to be drunk to run Currahee." Currahee wasn't a traditional running path for PT. It was a steep mountain that spanned three miles up, three miles down. Rebecca was no stranger to running. She ran track in high school and even college, she ran for OCS, but she never ran uphill for six miles straight non-stop. Plus, the thick Georgian heat made breathing all the harder. To add to her misery, Rebecca had to continually assure that her shorts weren't riding up too far and accidentally gave the men behind her a show.

With every step on the hill, Rebecca felt her legs growing more like jello and her lungs burning for oxygen. Cramps worked their way up and down her ribs as every ounce of her being screamed for a break.

"What's the matter, Clark? You tired? They didn't teach you how to run in nursing school?"

"You don't belong here Clark, you're a woman. Women don't belong in Airborne!"

Sobel's snide and crude remarks only pushed Rebecca to run harder and faster, despite her threshold for pain already being crossed. She was not going to let this squawking bird get to her.

Even though she was having a hard time herself, most of the men were too. One man named Skip twisted his ankle running up the mountain. Rebecca broke formation to help him but was discouraged by Sobel.

"Do not help that man Lieutenant! Do not help that man!"

Rebecca was disgusted by Sobel. His methods were despicable. She understood training being tough, it was the army after all, but this was insanity. She was always told to help an injured soldier.

Eventually, they all made it to the top, more or less in one piece. All, however, sucking fumes by the time they were able to slap the marble monument, signifying their halfway point. Rebecca wasn't doing too well either. She was absolutely spent by the time she made it up to the top of Currahee and completely aching. Now, they had to run all the way back down. It might have seemed easier because gravity was on there side but, trying to run downhill on tired legs only made it easier to trip and fall. The dirt proved to be even more treacherous and threatened to slip underneath their heavy jump boots.

Dick was the only one giving them all a little bit of encouragement to aid them in running back down hill.

XXX

The rest of the day only proved to be more exhausting. After running Currahee and taking a short, but well needed water break, Easy Company fell into the calisthenic portion of training. Of course, this section was just as intense and demanding as running Currahee.

They sprinted, did high knees through rope, crawled through wooden tubes and under barbed wire, and had to climb an eight foot wall. And all on top of it, they had to complete jumping jacks, push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups; and if they weren't to Sobel's liking, Easy had to do it all over again.

Rebecca didn't know how many times they were forced to do it all over again but, what she did know was that her arms were limp as noodles and her legs were practically numb. It was beyond PT at this point; it was more like torture.

What felt like hours of non-stop misery, the trumpet signalled lunch time and all of Easy practically crawled to the mess hall.

 _This was going to be a long be a long two years._ Rebecca fretted, schelping her body to the mess.

XXX

After the noon meal, Easy was able to relax their muscles for a bit while they sat in classroom instruction. This may have seemed like a blessing for the PT weary troops, but after spending the whole morning exerting their bodies to ungodly lengths and pushing every ounce of muscle they had, everyone was ready for bed.

Exhaustion lingered in every desk in the classroom hut. It was almost like everyone was paralyzed from exhaustion. No one could even muster up energy to raise a hand and answer the instructor's questions. Instead, the poor officer delegated to teach their sorry asses simply called on them by name.

Finally, after the longest day of her young life, Rebecca dragged her carcas back to the barracks, and collapsed onto her wrack. She would worry about a shower later. Now, all she could think about was sleep.

XXX

Second Platoon's barracks was buzzing with sweaty and showered men, trying to cram in some smokes and jabber before lights out. Despite the rigorous training they endured today, all was astir.

Luz sat with his buddies Guarnere, Toy, and another man name Darrell Powers who everyone called Shifty. Each man had a cigarette dangling from their mouths and playing cards in hand. Nothing like a friendly game of poker to wind down with before bed.

"Aw, come on Luz, you're cheating," Guarnere cried out.

Luz smirked at the man with his cigarette fuming. "You can't call skills cheating, Gonorrhea." He grinned.

"Bullshit," Toye objected.

"Hey, anyways, what do you guys think of this new dame?" Luz asked, changing the subject.

"Hey, hey," Toye said, "don't try to turn the subject around, you filthy cheater!"

Lux looked around at his friends waiting for their response. If cards couldn't get their minds off of the miserable hell they were in, then some good old fashioned scuttlebut would.

"Well, what do you think, Shift?" Luz asked again.

Shifty looked up from his cards, a confused look on his face. "Well, nothing I guess. She's here trying to accomplish the same goal as we are. The army must've put her here for a reason."

Lux groaned and took his cigarette out of his mouth. "Come on, you guys don't think it's a little weird that they decided, out of the blue, to get some dame and put in her in with the guys?"

"She's just a nurse, Luz. Ain't no way a dame is gonna hold a gun and fight," Guarnere scoffed.

"Well, it appears she's gonna be going overseas with us, unless she drops out," Shifty said.

The group excluding Shifty all chuckled and threw in their cards.

"There's no way she's gonna last. If us guys are already dropping like flies, there's no way some chick is gonna cut it," Luz finished.

Guarnere and Toy both looked down at the cards in anger. "Ah, I'm done playing this game," Toye exasperated.

Luz collected his cards from each of the guys and put them back into the holder. He wondering to himself, _What's a pretty gal like her doing here?_

 _-_ End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Like I said, I'm really trying to continue this story but school takes priority. Now that I'm pretty much done re-writing the pre-Toccoa arc, It'll be a lot easier to write because I plan on editing and revising my original story chapters and posting those. Anyways, please show some support cause I could really use it right now. Thanks! :3


	8. Chapter 8 - Routines

Last Time: Easy Company begins training and meets their CO.

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Friedrich Nietzche

Now: Rebecca struggles to win the boy's trust over.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Routines**

Rebecca didn't fully expect the men to warm up to her right away. Even though Easy Company was made aware a woman would be joining their ranks, they still didn't truly accept her as one of their own yet. As far as Rebecca was concerned, she was the second disliked if not hated officer in Easy. The once godlike persona the men had for her at first soon washed away once they understood her role in the company and that she was here to stay. The men loathed the fact that they had to take orders from her and as soon as her back was turned they vexed her as they did Sobel and wished everyday for the woman to wash out.

Only having two people, both of which who were fellow officers, in her court made Rebecca feel extremely isolated. She felt the wedge that was put between her and the enlisted men dig deeper everyday. She saw the sideways glances and heard the mumbles under their breaths. Rebecca just wasn't welcomed among them. There was no admiration or respect from the company that the other officers had. Having an officers rank made her untouchable but that didn't stop Easy from ostracizing her and by that making her feel all the more unwelcome.

They saw her as an extra load to carry around and felt she slowed them down, despite making the same progress as them.

Rebecca knew that this would happen, she knew that it would take time to win the hearts and minds of the company over. For now though, she would just keep her head low and train. "Hang tough", as Dick put it. And boy would she have. Training was starting to get more and intense.

XXX

Rebecca sat at an open bench in the mess hall, quietly eating her meal of toast and whatever the heck white substance the bread was drenched in. It lacked flavor and was about as appealing as a pussing wound. Nevertheless, she ate and washed it down with a steaming hot cup of joe. Rebecca was positively exhausted. Sobel's daily routine of physical torture had her and all the men completely drained. She could only wonder how Dick and Nix were fairing.

"Morning, Becca," Nix greeted, tray in hand.

"Good morning, Becca," Dick said.

Rebecca looked up at her two fellow officers, barely able to meet their gaze. She felt like she had ten pound weights attached her eyelashes.

"Morning, gentlemen." She just managed to get out.

Nix looked down at the woman and smirked. She looked dead on her feet.

"Well, I was going to ask you how you were doing this fine morning, but I think I just got my answer." He jested placing his tray down next to hers.

Rebecca watched as the two friends situated themselves at the table and wondered how in the hell they weren't as dead she was.

"It's just a lot to adjust to, is all." She assured the two. "The training I had was nothing compared to this."

Dick picked up the salt shaker and began sprinkling the flavor over his bland food; like clockwork he then passed it Nix and did the same. It was like the two were on the same wavelength.

"You're body is going to take a little bit to get used to this new schedule. Just hang tough. It won't be long before you feel normal again," Dick said.

"Yeah, well it's also not easy when the other guys are treating me like the leper of the group."

XXX

Rebecca found herself in a normal routine, getting used to Sobel's grueling demands and learning all she could in the classroom. She began to notice that her clothes were getting baggy in some places like her thighs and bosom and tighter in others like her arms. There was no doubt she was getting into the best shape of her life. Rebecca even swore that she was getting real toned abdominal muscles. The training was hard and demanding but she could notice a difference daily in her running and her strength with the constant practice. Even hand-to-hand combat was coming slowly but surely. Rebecca knew since she was smaller than the guys she was paired up with, it would be harder for her to overpower them. But, just like running and her strength conditioning it took time and eventually came to Rebecca. She might not be physically stronger than a man, but she could use her smaller size to her advantage and could certainly move a lot faster than they could.

She even found something she actually quite enjoyed: target practice. Rebecca already knew her way around a gun thanks to weekend trips to the range with her father. It wasn't a regular occurrence and she certainly was no Annie Oakley, but with the routine practice she got at Toccoa, Rebecca was turning into quite the shooter. Of course, being a medic meant that she wouldn't carry a weapon into combat, but she still needed to learn the basics just in case she needed to defend herself. And, it didn't hurt to pass with flying colors rather than just scrape by that portion of training. Why not have as much fun as she could?

In addition to PT, classroom instruction, jumping drills, and classroom lectures, Rebecca soon started to teach first aid as well. It came as a surprise when Col. Sink asked her to help out the other officers with instruction and at first, she was nervous as all get out. But, once she dove into the textbooks they had on base, Rebecca soon discovered she had a passion for classroom instruction. First aid was a joy to teach, it's hands-on nature made it easier for the men to pick up. Being lectured at for hours often put the men to sleep so this was a good change of pace.

XXX

Despite her steadfast improvements, Rebecca was still under the close and ever scrutinizing eye of Sobel. Even though he targeted everyone, he especially liked to taunt and harass her on their daily runs up Currahee and other physical trainings. Not to mention, training was picking up a significant amount. Easy started to run the dreadful mountain in full gear and began marching twelve miles every Friday night in full pack. Plus, to add on to their daily torture, they began to drilling from a fake platform to simulate jumping out of an airplane. The amount of sprained ankles and shin splints increased as the weeks dragged on.

By the time the afternoon rolled around and Easy Company filled the classroom for instruction, Rebecca was positively exhausted. She tried her best to keep her heavy eyelids opens.

She had planned to take a quick combat snooze to refresh her before lecture during her two-hour freetime, but Sobel had other plans for the woman. He decided that instead of allowing Rebecca to actually rest during her break, he assigned her to man the aid station for the day in case of any would-be incidents during other company's PT. Rebecca reluctantly manned her post but knew this was another way for Sobel to try and break her. He was now pushing her far harder than any other man in the company.

Nevertheless, Rebecca sat in the back of the class, trying to draw the least amount of attention to herself. It would be mortifying if the instructor caught on that she was falling asleep during his lecture.

Frustration began to work it's way through her. Rebecca all of a sudden didn't understand why Sobel was being such a hardass and why the company couldn't just grow up and accept that she was apart of the company. She began to feel like she was back in high-school with a bunch of bitchy girls that wouldn't allow her into their click. She hated high-school and all the people she attended it with.

The voice of the instructor quickly snapped Rebecca out of her mind's wanderings. He must have noticed she wasn't paying attention.

"Lieutenant Clark, what is the proper way to deploy one's reserve chute in an incident where the first doesn't deploy?"

The one thing Rebecca credited herself with was that she could always seem to daydream and have a foot in on the topic at hand. She knew the answer, they went over it just five minutes ago.

"One should open the reserve shoot in the opposite direction of the wind, sir," Rebecca responded, fidgeting with her pencil.

"Very good, Lieutenant. Glad to see someone is paying attention."

The instruction officer turned back to the board and continued on.

"Fucking brown noser," she heard someone hiss under their breath.

Rebecca didn't look up from her notebook, she just rolled her eyes and continued with her notes.

After the class was over, Rebecca grabbed her things and quickly exited the building. She put her notebook under her arm and began making her way back to the barracks.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant, I think you dropped this." A soft accented voice called out behind her.

Rebecca turned around and saw a shorter man with dark hair and eyes, holding her pencil out to her.

"Oh, thank you, ah," Rebecca faltered, no knowing the man name.

"Roe, Private Eugene Roe, ma'am." He said.

Rebecca noticed his Louisiana accent and his soft smile and couldn't help but do the same.

"Nice to meet you, Eugene." She began, taking her pencil back, "I believe I recognize you from my lectures. You're always up in the front, always engaged, and the first to volunteer and ask questions. You're training to be a medic, I assume?"

"Yes, ma'am. And even if I wasn't, your lectures are the best out of the others. You're a really good teacher."

Rebecca was touched. This man actually didn't hate her and was having a full-on conversation with her.

"Well, I'm glad they're not as as boring as the one we just got out of," Rebecca joked.

"Not by a longshot."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Private."

Rebecca continued to walk to the barracks to drop off her supplies on her way to dinner. She smiled to herself. This seemed like progress.

XXX

The next day, Rebecca was lining up with the rest of the company as they made their way through the obstacle course. This usually carried on until the men were about ready to puke up their lungs. However, even though Rebecca was in a terrible amount of pain, she couldn't help from worrying about the other men. Their technique was beginning to get sloppy and she feared for more sprained ankles.

She noticed the man named Luz was the first to fall victim to a rolled ankle. He was jumping through the rope squares and was about to move on when he landed on a tired ankle that simply gave out from underneath him. Luz cursed to himself as he picked himself off the ground, limping. Of course, this didn't stop him from continuing. His pride was too big to stop. Rebecca inwardly cringed as she watched Luz continue on his rolled ankle, probably only making the injury worse. It looked terribly painful to walk on.

After twenty minutes of pure hell, the company was finally allowed to stop. As they walked off the course and back to the barracks, Rebecca walked over to Luz as he fell behind the back because of his twisted ankle. She knew he was going to her attention. He was favoring his ankle as he walked away but she guessed that he wouldn't get it looked at, so she took matter into her own hands.

"Luz, let me take a look at that ankle for you," she said, approaching the man.

"Thanks, but I'm okay," Luz lied.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, not wanting to drag this conversation out any further. The longer they stood there debating over his ankle, the less time she had to shower before lunch.

"No, you're not and if you keep walking on it, you're going to make it worse. Now you can either let me take a look at it or suffer."

Luz was taken aback by her bluntless but it must have worked because he nodded and allowed Rebecca to help him to the aid station.

When the two arrived at the aid station, Rebecca helped Luz over the tall door frame and onto a cot.

The aid station was the one place Rebecca felt very familiar with. Even though it looked like a discount doctors office, being surrounded by the medicine, supplies, and medical diagrams made Rebecca feel like she was back in a hospital working again instead of training to be a soldier. It made her feel comfortable amongst the chaos of basic.

Rebecca propped Luz's ankle up for him, trying not to cause him too much pain. She walked in the back to get pre-wrap and the bandage, then she began her work. Rebecca gently removed his boot and sock and examined his ankle. By looks of the swelling and slight bruise, it was definitely sprained.

As she started to wrap it, she could tell Luz was uncomfortable by the way he gripped the table.

"Fuck, that hurts like a son of bitch." He hissed through his teeth.

"I'm sorry, I'll be done in a minute. I'll get you some aspirin for the pain and ice." Rebecca offered.

Luz grimaced and squeezed the table tighter as Rebecca finished.

"Hey, Lieutenant. Why the hell are you here? And why the hell are you being so nice. We treat you like shit and you could've already had our asses, being a lieutenant and all."

Rebecca chuckled to herself. It's amazing what someone in pain will say. And he's right. She could reprimand them for speaking about an officer in such a way, but she knew it wouldn't help things in the slightest. No one likes a rat.

"I'm here to do my job, same as you. And I don't know, Luz, maybe it's the nurse in me, but that's just the person I am. Kill em' with kindness I guess." she shrugged handing him some aspirin pills and an ice bag.

Luz sniggered. "Kill em' with kindness, huh?"

"Plus, I'm not willing to give up on you miscreants yet."

Luz knocked the pills down and leaned back on the table.

"Take it easy and check back with me tomorrow. You can stay here and ice it for a bit. I'll bring you back something from the mess."

"Thanks, Lieutenant," Luz said.

Rebecca smiled and patted him on the shoulder and began walking out the door. "Anytime."

Once she was gone and George Luz had the aid station to himself, a feeling of acceptance crept its way into his heart. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having a dame like her in the company.

"I guess you're alright after all, Lieutenant." He whispered to himself.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my revisions thus far. Please leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing or if you have any suggestions. Your guy's support is the only thing that keeps me going!


	9. Chapter 9 - Friends and Enemies

Last Time: Rebecca gains a friend.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Now: Easy Company finally learns to accept their newest member.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - Friends and Enemies**

As the weeks dragged on, training picked up with a swift vengeance. Sobel was continuing to push his company to new and unrealistic goals, complaining they were unfit despite that they were ahead of everyone else. This only made way for an onslaught of new insults and jeers towards Rebecca. Sobel picked on everyone, but his mocking towards Rebecca was downright unprofessional. He loved to humiliate her about her weight and how she wasn't fit enough even though she kept up with the men just fine and how she should "go back home and become a good little housewife". This only fueled Rebecca's drive to carry on.

In the face of the latest pick-up of training, Rebecca was noticing a bit of improvement in the behavior of the men. She wasn't sure what exactly caused this new feeling but she had a feeling it had to do with good 'ol George Luz.

"I still can't believe that dame has lasted this long," Guarnere jeered, as he laced up his boots.

George Luz looked over to the group of guys gossiping about the woman as he pulled his PT shirt over his head. He rolled his eyes at the chitchat. To be honest, Luz didn't think the woman was all that bad. Not to mention, she healed his ankle up pretty good.

"Wonder how far she had to spread her legs for Sobel to stay here," Someone sniped back.

Luz felt a little swell of anger swarm in his stomach. He didn't know why but he all of a sudden felt very protective over Lieutenant Clark. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he actually had a real conversation with her instead of just talking about her behind her back.

"Hey, guys, why doncha lay off a little, okay?" Luz snipped at the gossipers.

They all looked at the Rhode Islander in a bit of disbelief.

"What do you mean, Luz?" Guarnere asked, confused.

"I mean, lay off. Cut her some slack!"

The Philadelphian continued to look at him confused. But then, something dawned on him and he grinned from ear to ear.

"You yarking it up with her or something, Luz?"

The barracks got painfully quiet as they all looked at him with devilish grins.

"You guys are real schmucks, you know that? As if she didn't get this enough from Sobel, not without you guys laying into her everyday!" Luz barked at them.

Before they could get another word in, Sergeant Lipton came in, telling everyone to hurry up and get dressed for PT.

XXX

Pretty soon, Sobel has Easy Company running up Currahee in full pack more times that not and the characteristically torcherous Friday night marches became even more so, now that he wouldn't allow any of them take a single sip from their canteens during it. Marching twelve miles on their Friday nights while the other companies were out enjoying their weekends was bad enough, but not even being allowed to replenish themselves while they did was just adding insult to injury.

The only saving grace of Easy Company's dreary situation was that they had the benefit of doing this at night and not while enduring the blistering Georgia heat. It at least prevented the men from getting sunstroke, but it didn't stop them from still becoming dehydrated. Dehydration was a soldiers worst nightmare and it baffled Rebecca that Sobel would even order such a foolhardy thing.

Nevertheless, they marched, and Rebecca right along with them, every once in a while breaking from formation to check up on her guys.

She continued her check-ups by making her way over to Toye and Guarnere.

"Hey, fellas, holding up alright?"

"Thirsty as hell, Doc, but we'll survive," Toye rasped out.

"Okay, but if you start feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or hear anyone complaining about, you let me know, alright? Rebecca implored.

Guarnere rolled his eyes and shook his helmet covered head. "Jesus Christ, you're worse than my fucking mother," Guarnere joked.

"Well, if I was your mother, I'd kick ya in the ass for back talking." She retorted, smirking at the Italian.

Rebecca felt as if she was making marked improvement in her relationship with the men. It wasn't like they were bestfriends with her all of a sudden, but it was start. Rebecca didn't notice it at first, but it began with a helping hand in training and some words of encouragements here and there when she struggled, and even sticking up for her when other companies harassed her or talked ill of her. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had told them to knock it off or if they just had a change of heart, but Rebecca wasn't going to question it.

Rebecca eventually made her way to Luz who, besides Roe, seemed to be the nicest out of everyone. It probably had something to do with their chat in the aid station, but she appreciated at least having at least one person from the enlisted guys that resembled a friend. As she reached him, she saw Luz talking with Bull who looked immensely frustrated. The large man from Arkansas had what looked like a hint of agitation in his normally calm blue eyes, and rightfully so. While Sobel was back at base, cooling his heels, _his_ company out busting their tails.

"I'ma say somethin," Bull began.

"To who?" Luz asked sarcastically.

Bull spoke up, getting Dick's attention. "Lieutenant Winters!"

"What is it?" Winters asked, marching alongside his men.

"Permission to speak, sir." Bull asked.

"Permission granted." Winters replied.

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir."

"That we do." Winters confirmed.

"Well, how come we're the only company marching every Friday night, twelve miles, full pack in the pitch dark?" Bull asked.

"Why do you think Pvt. Randleman?" Dick tested.

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Bull said.

Winters dropped back to where Bull was in the company. Rebecca inwardly cringined knowing how he felt about bad mouthing a superior. Dick was a stickler for rules.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Pvt. Randleman," Dick stated, seriously, "He just hates you."

Rebecca was surprised by the later statement. Hearing Dick joke around was rare. Everyone within earshot of him, laughed.

"Thank you sir!" Bull replied, somewhat amused by that statement.

"He hates him back." One man said.

The men chuckled again.

"He hates you too Muck." Another said, smacking Skip on the helmet.

"I think he hates Clark the most." Luz said elbowing Rebecca in the side.

She giggled along with the men, happy for at least one lighthearted moment.

XXX

After the hellish march was over, Sobel ordered Easy into formation and ordered by Lieutenant Winters to up end their canteens.

Sobel watched with hawk-like vision, ready to hone in on any poor soul whose canteen finished emptying before everyone else's. Unfortunately, there was one unlucky man whose water finished hitting the dry Georgian dirt a little to quick. Sobel picked up on it immediately and flocked towards the man.

"Christensen! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you," Sobel spat.

"Sir I-," Pat was too soon cut off by Sobel yelling for Lieutenant Winters.

"Private Christenson, you have disobeyed a direct order. You will refill your canteen and repeat all twelve miles of the march, immediately." He yelled spitting in his face.

"Yes, sir." He said with reluctance in his voice.

"FALL OUT," Sobel boomed.

Sobel and Winters returned to the other officers and started to read Dick the riot act for making him "look bad" in front of the company. Rebecca thought he did enough of that on his own.

In her heart, she knew it just wasn't fair for Christenson to have to repeat all twelve miles again. The poor man was already exhausted from the first march. Sobel was being too cruel.

"Sir, permission to speak, sir," Rebecca spoke up.

Sobel glanced over to Rebecca, giving her an icy look. He didn't like to be interrupted while talking especially by her.

"What is it, Lieutenant Clark?" He asked coldly.

"Sir, it was my fault for allowing Pvt. Christenson to drink from his canteen, sir. He was showing signs of dehydration, sir. The order came from me."

Rebecca addressed the man as respectfully as possible, despite having not one ounce for him at all. But, if she wanted to save Christenson's hide from marching again, she had to kiss up.

She saw Dick glance over at her, disapprovingly. Lying to Sobel to get out of trouble was one thing, but she was putting her own neck down on the chopping block.

"Is that so, Lieutenant?" Sobel began walking over to her.

"Yes, sir, I told him to drink from his canteen, sir. He was under my orders," Rebecca continued.

Sobel sneered at her and his lips curled up into a devious smile. "Than I guess you won't mind taking his place?"

Sobel yelled for Christensen to come back in formation. He got back, with a confused look on his face probably wondering what he had done to anger Sobel further.

"Lucky for you private, lieutenant Clark will be taking your place since she admitted to giving you the order to drink from your canteen."

Pat looked to Rebecca with a mixed look of shock and gratitude. However, she instantly regretted lying to Sobel. She thought all he would do was spare Christenson from marching twelve miles again, not dole the punishment on her. Rebecca's mother always told her, no good ever came from lying.

The Company looked at her with equal amounts of shock for sticking her neck out for one of the guys.

"Get the hell out of my sight, Lieutenant." Sobel scowled.

Rebecca hesitantly began walking to the starting point, realizing she had just dug herself into a huge hole.

XXX

A quarter of the way through Rebecca's second march of the night, she began to feel an overwhelming amount of exhaustion slam into her, not to mention dehydration. The canteen on her belt began to weigh her down with the overwhelming desire to take a sip of the cool water.

With every step she took, Rebecca felt her boots dig into her feet, causing hellacious blisters to form on her skin. Every fiber in her body was begging her to stop, but she kept going. Her arms grew heavier and it felt almost impossible to hold up her rifle. It felt like she had fifty pound weights strapped to her legs.

Undeniable hate for Sobel began filling her up. The more she thought of him the more angry she got and the more frustrated she felt about having to repeat the march again.

 _Fuck Sobel, Fuck him! Fuck his stupid nose. Fuck Christenson! Why did I do something so stupid as trying to get him out of punishment? What's it gonna do for me?_

Rebecca felt hot tears prick the sides of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away not allowing Sobel to make her this angry. He wasn't going to get to her like this.

XXX

Four hours laters, Rebecca finally made it back to base fueled only by spite and hate for Sobel. As she made it back to where Easy Company fell in, she was furious find Sobel nowhere in sight. Of course he wouldn't stay up to see her finish. Why would he sacrifice his beauty rest?

Surprisingly enough, she saw Dick emerge from the officer's barracks. He saw Rebecca and was relieved to see she was okay and jogged over to her.

"Easy there, Becca," Dick cooed, coming to her side allowing her to collapse into him, "That was a really stupid thing you did."

"I felt bad, and I didn't expect Sobel to make me repeat the march in his place," Rebecca smiled into his side.

"Alright come on, let's get you to bed."

Winters practically dragged Rebecca to the barracks. She was far too exhausted to walk any further. He helped her into bed, and covered her up.

"Thank you, Dick." Rebecca mumbled.

Winters sighed, "You're welcome, Becca."

It didn't take long for Rebecca to drift off into a deep sleep. Marching twenty-four miles in one day had the same effect as hitting a baseball bat over someone's head: unconsciousness.

XXX

The next morning Rebecca forced herself out of bed so she didn't miss breakfast. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she smelled the scent of food wafting through the air and made her way to the mess hall with a ravenous hunger.

Rebecca got in line and impatiently waited for the cooks to slop what looked like biscuits onto her tray. She didn't care, it could've been dog food and she still would have eaten it. Not wanting to spend another minute on an empty stomach, Rebecca hurriedly got her coffee and sat down where ever.

She started shoveling the soggy gravy covered biscuit into her mouth, not caring about its flavor or unappetizing appearance, and swigged her coffee. Her mother would have been ashamed at such appalling table manners.

Rebecca was so preoccupied with eating, that she didn't even notice Dick and Lewis sit down with her. She did manage to catch the end of their conversation, alerting her to the fact that others were sitting with her and forcing her to tone down her pig-like manners.

"Why them?" Nixon continued.

"It was their turn," Winters smiled sitting down.

"Jesus, Rebecca, you look like the walking dead." Nixon burst out.

Rebecca looked up from her meal, unamused.

"That tends to happen when you march twenty-four miles in one day," Winters pointed out.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it." Rebecca grumbled, taking another swig of coffee.

"I gotta give you credit, that took a lot of balls to go up to Sobel like that. It's the only thing the men have talked about all morning," Nixon added.

"Yeah, well, I definitely don't suggest they follow in my footsteps." Rebecca retorted.

Both Nixon and Winters chuckled.

"I'm just glad It's the weekend so I can recover a little. That was brutal," Rebecca admitted.

Winters put his fork down looked at Rebecca, seriously.

"Becca, you may not have realize this, but standing up to Sobel really helped win the men over."

XXX

After cramming her stomach with breakfast, Rebecca walked back to the officer's barracks with a full heart. From what Dick was explaining to her, the men might have actually come around to trusting her. Rebecca couldn't help but feel giddy.

She walked back feeling elated, but couldn't deny that she was still utterly exhausted and planned to do nothing but sleep for the day.

As the barracks came into view, and the thought of blissful sleep, so did the face of George Luz, leaning up against the side of the wooden building, smoking.

"Hi, Lieutenant," George started, flicking his cigarette butt into the ground.

Rebecca was little annoyed that someone was standing in the way of her and sleep, but she of course wouldn't show that.

"Hiya, George. That ankle giving you problems?"

"No, actually, me and a few guys were going off base to a bar and we were wondering if you wanted come?" He asked, lighting another cigarette and placing it in between his lips.

Rebecca didn't know what to say to this offer. She wanted to become more friendly with the guys, but didn't know if she should trust this seemingly nice gesture. It was like they were doing a total 180 in a matter of days.

"I, don't know, Luz. Bars really aren't my favorite places to hang out." She lied.

"Come on, Lieutenant. Think of it as a thank you for fixing up my ankle. First drinks on me."

Luz seemed like he was being genuine, plus why else would they invite her to a bar?

"Okay, okay. I'll see you there."

Luz flashed Rebecca one of his distinctively toothy smiles. "Great, see you there!"

Rebecca entered the barracks, finally letting her body collapse on her rack, sleep overwhelming her immediately.

XXX

The pub was a hole in the wall kind of place that sold cheap beer and attracted even worse people. But, it was the one thing the men on base had to briefly escape the army for a little bit.

Rebecca walked in feeling every eye on her, the uniform made her stand out like a sore thumb. She tried to look somewhat decent, sculpting her natural curls instead of slicking it back into a bun, and even putting on some makeup, but now Rebecca felt like it was a mistake.

She desperately scanned around the room trying to find where the Easy guys were. Once she spotted a familiar face, she made her way over.

"Shit, Lieutenant, you clean up real good."

"Thanks, Bill," Rebecca blushed.

"Come on, Lieutenant, grab a seat," Guarnere said, showing Rebecca over to the table.

Most of the Easy men sat in a bunch around a few table put together so they all could sit with one another. Everyone seemed happy to have weekend passes for once. It was few and far between that the whole company had them. Sobel usually managed to find a way to revoke their only chance of freedom any moment he could.

Rebecca sat down on the only empty seat at the table.

"Ho-ly shit, Becca you look great!" Luz beamed. "Ah, hope you don't mind calling you Becca."

"No, not at all," Rebecca blushed.

Perconte approached her, a beer in hand. "Hey, Lieutenant, we have someone who wants to see ya." He said.

Perconte hailed someone over and Rebecca turned her head to see none other than Pat Christensen. He made his way from the bar to where Rebecca was sitting, obviously very shy about approaching her.

"Uh, - well, Lieutenant, I-I just wanted to thank you for what you did the other night. That was pretty awesome seeing someone stand up to Sobel."

Rebecca smiled warmly up at him."You're very welcome, Private, although if I knew I was gonna have repeat that march again, I don't think I would have done it." She joked.

The men chuckled and Christensen pulled up a chair to listen to her story about the march. She sat back and watched as the men talked with each other and how close they already all were. It was amazing how the rigors of training made men from totally different walks of life practically brothers, and Rebecca was now apart of it. It was going to be a long and nasty war and they would all need to rely and depend on each other to have their backs.

"Hey fellas, I just wanted to uh- to thank you all for- for making me feel like one of the guys." She spoke up.

The table fell silent only Guarnere speaking

"Well, Becca, you might be lacking in a few departments, but we get what you're sayin'," Guarnere said, bursting out in laughter and making everyone at the table follow suit.

Rebecca had never been more proud in her life, that was until she would receive her jump wings.

"Plus," Guarnere continued, "It might not be wise to piss off the dame who's going to be saving our asses when we get over there."

* * *

A/N: I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. If you did please let know! Your support means the world to me. Hopefully, now that school is winding down, I'll be able to update more frequently.


	10. Chapter 10 - Carry on

Last Time: Easy begins to warm up to their Lieutenant.

"Keep calm and carry on." - British Government

Now: Easy Company leaves Toccoa.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Carry On**

"Pornography, contraband."

Rebecca winced as she saw Sobel hold up an issue of "Titter" magazine. Now, he had decided it was necessary to add barrack raids to his repertoire of punishment, looking for any sort of infraction he could bring down on them, officers included.

Sobel made his way over to another wrack, approaching it, he dumped the contents of the footlocker on the bed.

"Non-regulation clothing, contraband." He took a tie from an unsuspecting man's footlocker and threw it back on the bed with a snap.

The officers stood in the enlisted men's barracks watching as Sobel stormed through, most of them thinking it was as cruel as it was unnecessary.

Sobel had been promoted to captain and was celebrating his promotion by being even more of a hardass. He couldn't let up for just one second.

"This man had two-hundred prophylactic kits in his footlocker. How in the name of God was he gonna have the strength to fight the war?" Sobel raged, throwing the box of condoms to the side of the room.

Before this, Sobel had been through the officer's barracks as well. Much to Rebecca's horror, he rummaged through her footlocker, tossing around all her belongings, including her hygiene products which he didn't seem to mind throwing every which way. If Sobel considered that contraband, Rebecca would have gone postal and been kicked out for murdering her CO.

"How is it Private- Private Tipper, has spare time for so much correspondence?" Sobel asked, ripping open the letter and examining it.

"Captain, are personal letters considered to be contraband?" Winters asked.

Rebecca was a little taken aback that Sobel considered letters from home, contraband. They were allowed somewhat of leisure time when they weren't being subjected to his sick training regimen. But, Sobel just wouldn't let up; he had to go above and beyond the normal limits.

Sobel scanned a letter belonging to Tipper, probably recognizing the writing was from a sweetheart back home, he put the letter up to his nose, smelling the perfume.

Rebecca looked at him utterly disturbed. _What a perv._

"These men aren't paratroopers yet, Lieutenant. They have no personal property." He took the stack of letters and tossed them on the ground, leaving them an unorganized heap.

Sobel made his way over to another victim's bed and pulled out a can of some sort from the footlocker.

"What is this? Anybody?" Sobel asked, condescendingly holding, up a can of peaches.

"Uh, it's a can of peaches, sir," Nixon answered, a little too smugly.

"Lieutenant Nixon thinks this is a can of peaches. That is incorrect Lieutenant, your weekend pass is canceled. This is United States Army property which was taken without authorization from my mess facility and I will not tolerate thievery in my unit. Whose footlocker is this?"

"Private Parkes, sir," Winters answered.

"Get rid of him," Sobel ordered.

Rebecca couldn't believe Sobel was bouncing a guy over peaches. He really was crazy. She couldn't possibly comprehend the meaning behind anything the man did. This was lunacy.

Finally, he was finished with his search, the barracks lay a mess in wake of hurricane Sobel. It was like a New England Nor'easter had whipped its way through the men's barracks. Letters were thrown everywhere, footlockers ripped open, beds torn apart.

"All weekend passes are canceled, officers included. Carry on." He left without another word.

Rebecca made her way out of the barracks, heading back to her own mess, ready to clean up her wrack. As she walked out, she noticed Sobel, disdainfully pinning Second Lieutenant's bars on Winter's collar.

At least one good thing happened today out of all of Sobel's hysterics.

 _He deserves this._ She thought, smiling to herself. No one was more worthy of being promoted than Dick. Unlike Sobel, he actually cared about Easy and was fair.

She made her way back to the officers' barracks to clean up her space.

XXX

Later that day, Sobel had the sick idea of stuffing the men full with spaghetti and then ordering them to run Currahee. He certainly had a funny way of celebrating his promotion.

The men were making their way up Currahee, heaving up their spaghetti, Rebecca included. Sobel, the only one on an empty stomach, was making his way around the company throwing jeers and antagonizing the men, rubbing salt in the wounds.

"You're a washout, Private Hobbler! You should pack up both your ears and go home!" Sobel yelled into Hoobler's face.

Sobel made his way to Smokey, his favorite to pick on besides Rebecca.

"Looks like Gordon's done. Aren't you Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings!" Sobel shouted, antagonizing Private Gordon as he trekked up the hill.

"Private Randleman, you look tired," Sobel taunted, running over to Bull, "There's an ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. It can all be over right now, no more pain, no more Currahee, no more Captain Sobel!"

Easy was absolutely at their wits ends. This was beyond cruel. Almost everyone was throwing up their guts, barfing acidy bile mixed with half-masticated spaghetti and sauce. No one expected Sobel to barge into the mess hall while everyone was half-way finished scarfing down their second or third serving of pasta, especially when they were told PT had been canceled due to the weather forecast. A light day, they were promised a light day.

Finally, Sobel made his way over to Rebecca.

"What about you, Clark, you finished yet? Out of everyone here, you deserve to get your wings least of all!"

Rebecca honestly wasn't even paying attention at that point. She was too busy retching up her own meal. Luckily, she hadn't eaten nearly as much as the men did, but it was still enough to bother her stomach. Hot tears rolled down her face as she regurgitated her own vomit mix.

Luz, hearing his fellow men being subjected to Sobel's bullying, began out of nowhere, singing the Airborne cadence, shutting Sobel the hell up.

We pull upon the risers  
We fall upon the grass  
We never land upon our feet  
We always hit our ass  
Hide tidee, Christ almighty  
Who the hell are we?  
Zim Zam, goddamn!  
We're Airborne Infantry

We pull upon the risers  
We fall upon the grass  
We never land upon our feet  
We always hit our ass  
Hide tidee, Christ almighty  
Who the hell are we?  
Zim Zam, goddamn!  
We're Airborne Infantry

Sobel, taken aback, immediately stopped his harassment and was left behind, completely surprised by his Company's resilience.

After running Currahee and puking every last bit of their stomach contents, all the company's men were in the aid station with Rebecca receiving Alka seltzer. When she wasn't busy treating the others, she was quafing back Alka seltzer for her town stomach. It was brutal torture, but all the men were in the station with each other, supporting one another, and laughing as they continued to puke up spaghetti.

XXX

It finally seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel for Easy Company. Soon, they would be embarking on their five test jumps at Fort Benning. Once this was completed, they would officially be army paratroopers.

It was somewhat of a bittersweet day for Rebecca. Most of the guys were happy to be leaving the place where they had been abused for a year, but as Rebecca took one last glance at Currahee, she couldn't help but feel a little somber about parting ways with it. That God forsaken mountain helped prove herself worthy and proved her place in Easy Company many times.

Right when everyone thought they would be treated to a nice train ride to Fort Benning, their light at the end of the tunnel was blocked by a huge obstacle. That obstacle was a 118-mile march the higher-ups had planned for Easy and the rest of 2nd Battalion, all the way to Atlanta, Georgia, where Fort Benning was.

From what Rebecca heard from Nix, Col. Sink had read in the Reader's Digest, that a Japanese Battalion had set a world record for marching endurance by covering 100 miles down the Malayan Peninsula in seventy-two hours. And of course, in the spirit of war, Col. Sink declared, "My men can do better than that," assuming a lot from the already exhausted 2d Battalion.

The 1st and 3d Battalions got the take a train ride to Atlanta, 2d and Easy Company marched.

Just when things were supposed to get easier.

XXX

So, on December 1, at 0700, Dog, Easy, Fox, and Battalion HQ Companies began their march towards hell, each man wearing all his gear and carrying his weapon. The riflemen and medics had it much easier than, say, Malarkey who was in the mortar squad and Gordon who had his machine gun, but that still didn't ensure an easy trip. The route was 118 miles long, 100 miles of that on backcountry, unpaved roads.

The hike was agonizing and breaks were infrequent, making the march all the more horrible. The December weather was simply wretched, with freezing rain and snow added for good measure, thus equaling slippery and muddy roads.

The mud riled up by Battalion HQ in the front, created a suction of quicksand for the rest of the battalion to trudge through. Rebecca, trying her hardest not to get caught in the suck, stepped in the fleeting footprints left behind by the men in front of her. She was fortunate enough to be closer to the beginning of the procession, with the rest of the medical personnel, but still had a hard time pulling her boots from the mud whenever they got caught in the muck.

She was positively frozen and shaking. Rebecca marched by Roe who was quietly walking beside her, his hands under his armpits, smoking a cigarette.

"Lieutenant," Roe spoke, handing his cigarette over to her. Rebecca took it with a bit of reluctance. She hadn't smoked since high school and ardently quit when she got to nursing school. She looked at it and decided to take a puff, figuring it would make her warmer, even if just a small amount.

 _The hell with it,_ Rebecca thought, swinging her bag around, pulling out a pack. She had been hoarding cigarettes since she arrived, using them as some sort of bargaining tool in case she needed a favor from the guys, like when she required someone to stand watch while she showered. Because she never smoked, Rebecca had built up quite the stash.

"I didn't think you smoked, Lieutenant," Roe said.

She sighed, pulling one from the pack, lighting it, and throwing her sack back on her shoulders. "I don't, but I'm freezing my ass off and whatever is in these things gives me a boost."

As she and Roe continued, Rebecca could hear the men mumbling about what 2d had done to deserve this torture and why Strayer chose muddy backroads of all places. She listened to their plights, taking in intermittent puffs from her cigarette, feeling the smoke warm her insides. She hated the way it made her mouth taste, but by God, she was much warmer than she was without the damn thing.

Rebecca's only guess as to why they were the only battalion being forced to march was because of their stellar physical fitness rate. That had to be the reason because if it wasn't, 1st and 3d would be marching right alongside with them.

By 2300 hours, the Battalion was allowed to stop for the night. They had covered 40 miles thus far. Strayer picked the campsite, a bare, windswept hill devoid of trees, bushes, or windbreaks of any kind. If he had been smart, he would have picked an area laden with trees and bushes to keep the wind out, but Strayer chose the most barren hillside he could find. Whether or not it was on purpose was unknown.

Rebecca plopped herself down on the ground, her back and feet killing her, and undoubtedly blistered. Now that they were no longer moving, the cold in the air became unbearable. She felt as if she were back in New England winter without a jacket to warm her.

She rolled out her sleeping bag, ready to try and catch some sleep and, hopefully, warmup, but as soon as they settled down for the night, an onslaught of men with blisters, shin splints, sprains, and frostbite demanded to be attended to.

By the time Rebecca, Roe, and the rest of the medics were done patching up the battered 2d Battalion, the temperature had dropped into the low twenties.

Rebecca finally crawled into her sleeping bag, wanting to take her boots off so badly, but decided against it as to keep her feet somewhat warm.

XXX

Rebecca was awoken at 0600 the next morning, everything covered in a thick layer of frost, gluing down everyone's equipment and supplies. She fervently thanked herself for keeping her boots on that night as she watched the men try to jam their swollen feet in their frozen boots.

Naturally, the second day was harder than the first as Rebecca and the men continued the march on frozen muscle. It took some miles for their stiff, aching muscles to warm up. However, the third day was by far the worst.

2d Battalion had covered 80 miles, there was still 38 to go, and the last 20 or so would be on the highway leading to Atlanta. As they began their way down the hard cement, Rebecca longed for the mud again. The hard ground was absolute torture on the joints.

That night when they camped out on the grounds of Oglethorpe University, Rebecca did rounds around the battalion. A figure crawling to the chow line caught her eye.

It was Malarkey, no doubt exhausted and in pain, from lugging his heavy mortar even with the help he received from his company.

"Malark, honey, what are you doing?" Rebecca laughed.

The redheaded fellow, whipped around at the sound of his Lieutenant, attempting to stand up. He failed, placing weight on one leg and quickly falling over, a look of pain, ridden on his face.

Rebecca instantly came to his side, worried. He wasn't crawling because he was joking around, he was crawling because he physically couldn't walk. His legs were swollen, red, and his feet were bleeding.

"Malarkey, you got shin splints. You cannot walk the rest of the way. You need to ride in the ambulance tomorrow morning."

"Lieutenant, I can make it. I just need to rest, is all." He pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but it's an order, Malark. Marching the rest of the way tomorrow could give you permanent damage."

He looked at her, a begging look on his face.

"Please, Becca. I know I can make it. I just need to rest. I want to march the rest of the way with the guys."

She sighed. It was his pride that wouldn't allow him to cop out. As much as Rebecca would rather see him ride in the ambulance the rest of the way, she understood. "Fine, but you stay off your feet for the rest of the night, that's non-negotiable." She said sternly.

By the time they hit Atlanta, 2d Battalion was exhausted, cranky and some damn near crawling. However, the march had riled up publicity throughout Georgia. Strayer had arranged for a band that met them a mile from Five Points and cheering crowds lined the route of the march, suddenly making all the pain and suffering worth it. Everyone all at once forgot their pain, straightened their backs and finished the march as if they were passing in review at Toccoa. Rebecca and the rest of 2d felt like the roughest, toughest batch of GIs in the world.

They had beaten Japan's measly record and beat it good. They covered 118 miles in 75 hours. Of the 586 men and officers in 2d, only twelve couldn't complete the march. Those who made it felt immensely proud, even if they had to be supported by comrades. It didn't matter, they had made it and this was one for the history books. Lieutenant Moore's 3d platoon of Easy was the only company in the whole battalion in which every man walked every step under his own power. They got to lead the parade through Atlanta.

2d Battalion showed their unclenching resolve and strength through extreme mental fortitude and comradery. An overwhelming feeling of joy and pride for herself and her men overtook Rebecca.

Of course, with the immense turnout of civilians welcoming their Army boys to Atlanta, along too came reporters with cameras and notepads, looking for a statement from the badass battalion.

One ran over to the group of medics, where Rebecca marched proudly, looked at her, and made a beeline for the woman.

"Miss, miss!" He yelled. "How do you feel about completing the march and being a woman selected to go to the frontlines?"

"I feel _damn_ good!" She beamed.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Uploading will be much for consistent once I finish school. If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment and let me know how I'm doing! :3


	11. Chapter 11 - Jumping

Then: Easy Company marches to Fort Benning.

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation." - Charles Kettering

Now: Rebecca and Easy Company earn their wings.

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - Jumping**

 **December 1942**

When Easy arrived at Benning, they weren't welcomed to a newly refurbished base like they were at Toccoa. Instead, they arrived at what was known as the Frying Pan where jump training went on and where the barracks and other buildings consisted of scrubby little wooden huts on top of sand. Some considered Benning to be more miserable than Toccoa.

However, Easy found Benning to a welcomed relief because they had finally reached the stage where they would begin real training for becoming paratroopers. They had begun parachute school. Parachute school was supposed, to begin with, PT known as A stage, followed by B, C, and D, each lasting a week. The 506th however, skipped A stage.

Because First Battalion arrived ahead of everyone else, they went to A stage and embarrassed the jump school sergeants who were in charge of calisthenics

Easy Company and the other Toccoa men would laugh at them during training and in one instance, even ran backward and taunted the sergeants to races while on their daily runs.

After two days of the 506th's mockery, the jump school sergeants told the C.O. that they were in much better physical shape than they were, so all the companies of the 506th started stage B immediately.

B stage consisted of one week of going to packing sheds each morning and learning how to fold and pack parachutes and then jumping into sawdust piles four feet off the ground. Each stage got closer and closer to the real deal. C stage Easy made jumps from 250-foot towers and a wind machine that taught them how to control and collapse their chutes after landing.

Finally, came D stage. The real thing. It consisted of 5 jumps from a C-47 that would guarantee those who completed it, their wings.

It just didn't feel real to Rebecca and she didn't think it would hit her until she was up in that C-47. The night before their first jump, Rebecca sat on her bunk, packing and repacking her chute. She was nervous as all get out and felt like throwing up. All her training was leading up to these five jumps. She hoped and prayed the past year of rigorous training would prepare her for tomorrow. The last thing Rebecca wanted was to freeze at the door and make a fool of herself. Like the drill instructor said, any hesitation boarding the plane or at the door will result in immediate dismissal.

After more meticulous inspection of her chute, at 2300, Rebecca forced herself to get some shuteye.

XXX

Rebecca stood at the door of the C-47, the loud sound of the engine piercing her ears. She looked down below, unable to see anything. It looked like it was night down below, yet she could see the sun gleaming through the windows of the plane. She looked around and saw no one else on the plane except her.

 _What am I doing here? Where's the drill sergeant?_ She began panicking. She had to do it. She had to jump, or else.

Without a moment's thought, she hurled herself out of the plane, waiting for the jerk of her parachute to carry her safely to the ground.

 _One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand._ Nothing, no prop blast, no parachute.

Rebecca was hurtling towards the ground faster and faster. She checked for her reserve chute; she wasn't even wearing one. All she had on was her jumpsuit. A terrible feeling of dread overcame her. She was going to die.

As the ground started getting closer and closer, she let out loud screams.

" _Help me!"_ Rebecca screeched right before she hit the ground.

Rebecca seized and jolted up from her bed.

 _It was just a dream._ She sighed. Her heart was still racing and she was covered in a cool sheen of sweat. Rebecca glanced at her watch. It was 0520, reveille was in ten minutes.

Rebecca swung her legs over her rack and began getting ready. _God, I hope that was just a dream._

XXX

Easy Company boarded the planes at Lawson Field in sticks of 24. Rebecca was placed with Dick, Nix, and unfortunately, Sobel. However, when they boarded and the plane reached 1,000 feet, she glanced over at Sobel expecting to see his normal arrogance, but instead, Sobel looked like he was scared to death. Rebecca smiled to herself. It was good to know even Sobel could be knocked down a peg.

At 1,5000 feet, the red light went on and the jumpmaster yelled for everyone to stand up and hook up.

Rebecca hooked the line attached to the backpack cover of her main chute to the anchor line running down the middle of the top of the fuselage. It was now or never. Butterflies rose up in her stomach.

"Sound off for equipment check!" The jumpmaster shouted.

Everyone went down the checkline and when the light turned green, the jumping began.

Rebecca watched as each man jumped out of the plane hoping they all had a successful outcome. Finally, it was Rebecca's turn. She stood in the doorway with her hands on the outer edge of the door, looking into the horizon like she was told. It did look amazingly beautiful from so up high. It was like being in heaven. Hopefully, if the jump went the way it was supposed, she would still have no idea what heaven looked like.

Rebecca's heart was racing with anticipation and the butterflies made it hard to breathe.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant, you're gonna love it!" The sergeant yelled at her.

Without a moment's hesitation, she leaped from the plane praying to God this wouldn't turn out like her dream and the prop blast would inflate her chute.

 _One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three one thousand._ A jerk and then the sweet sensation of flying.

Rebecca looked up above her and saw the waving silk of her parachute floating her back down to earth. After clearing the roaring C-47, the world around her was completely serene save for the whistling in ears as she continued down to the ground. It felt like flying. When she touched down, she was unable to hold her glee.

The jumps that followed were a breeze and Rebecca enjoyed them so much she found herself unable to wait for the jumpmaster's signal. When the final one came around she actually found herself slightly upset. She loved the adrenaline so much and didn't know when they would be going for practice again.

XXX

Easy Company was dressed to the nines for their celebration upon earning their jump wings.

Rebecca was amongst the proud paratroopers, her pride radiating off her. She felt honored to have Col. Sink pin her wings on.

"Congratulation, Lieutenant. I'm mighty proud." She remembered Sink saying as he pinned her wings on.

After the pinning ceremony, Easy Company went to the bar on base to celebrate with some well deserved heavy drinking, singing, and merriment.

Rebecca walked into the room and for the first time since she arrived for training, she didn't feel out of place. She felt like she truly belonged. Getting her wings proved that to her.

She found Dick out of the crowd and a huge smile plastered itself on her face.

"Congratulations, Becca." He said.

"You too, Dick." She hugged him tightly.

They made their way over to Nix who was a half-way through a Vat 69 and looking very merry.

"Hey, Rebecca, congratulations!" Nixon cheered raising his glass to her.

"Same to you, too, hun," Rebecca said, hugging him in return.

Rebecca stood at the bar, looking around the room and taking in every ounce of celebration. She wasn't ever going to forget this moment. Although, she also thought that this day would never come. Rebecca smiled to herself knowing that if it weren't for Dick and Lew's constant support and their overall friendship, she probably would've dropped out.

"Hey, guys, thanks so much for helping me pull through when things got tough. You both really helped me hang on."

"You did this all yourself, kid," Nixon said.

Dick nodded in agreement.

Before another word could be said, Colonel Sink entered the room and the celebration halted.

"Ten-hut!"

Everyone snapped to attention as the Colonel made his way to the stage with a smile on his face.

"Well, at ease, paratroopers." He began, "Good evening, Easy company."

The men all greeted the colonel with a hearty "Good evening, sir!"

"Now, parachute infantry is a brand-new concept in American History. But by, God the 506th is gonna forge that brand-new concept into victory."

The room broke out into cheers and wallops.

"I want you to know, that I'm damned proud of each and every one of you," Sink said, making eyes with Rebecca. Nixon patted her on the shoulder probably having seen it too.

"Now, you deserve this party." Sink asserted, receiving a beet from Grant.

"So, I want you to have fun and remember our motto… Currahee!"

The entire room cried out after Sink, "Currahee!".

"Becca," Dick began, grabbing her attention, "I think the Colonel is looking for you."

Rebecca glanced over to where Sink was. He hailed her over.

"See you guys in a bit then," Rebecca smiled.

Rebecca made her way through the boisterous crowd of drinking men and out the door where Colonel Sink was waiting for her.

"Now, Lieutenant Clark, I don't want to keep you from the party too long," He began and reached into his pocket.

Rebecca felt her heart leap when the Colonel pulled out a silver lieutenant's bar.

"I deemed it fit to promote you. You have proven your place here in the Airborne and have proven to be very valuable to the company. I've seen the way the men look up to you now, and well, you above all people deserve to get this promotion along with your wings."

Rebecca glanced up at the Colonel, then to the silver bars, feeling tears begin to form at the side of her eyes.

"Thank you, sir, this means so much." Rebecca gushed.

Colonel Sink even pinned her new lieutenant's bar on her collar. "Congratulations, I'm damn proud of you."

Colonel Sink turned to leave and Rebecca re-entered feeling even better if that was humanly possible.

Nixon was first to notice her new rank, whistling at the sight of the silver bars freshly pinned to her collar.

"Look who's on the fast track to success," He laughed, "You wanna drink to celebrate, there, First Lieutenant?"

"You know the answer to that, Lew." Rebecca reminded him, rolling her eyes.

"God, you're about as stiff as Dick." He joked.

Winters walked back over and handed Rebecca a club soda. "Congratulations, again, Lieutenant," Winters said smiling and sipping his drink.

"Thanks, Dick."

Rebecca glanced at the clock, "I think I'm gonna turn in. I got aid station duty early tomorrow." Rebecca stated.

"Aw, come on, Becca! The party just started," Nixon pleaded.

"Sorry, but I'm exhausted, busy day you know," Rebecca added.

Nixon shrugged his shoulders and took a healthy swig of his Vat 69.

"I'll walk you out," Winters said.

The two made their way out of the mobbed hall, elbowing drunk GI's the whole way. The party just couldn't be contained. Rebecca was glad to be leaving. The cigarette smoke was becoming unbearable and the men were becoming too rowdy.

Rebecca and Dick began walking to the barracks.

"You know, I never thought I would make it," Rebecca admitted.

"But you did, and you should be proud," Winters said.

"I am, I am."

Rebecca remembered how hard it was to win the guys over and earn their trust. It was hard fought, but she was sure she would have more work cut out for her.

Rebecca and Dick walked the rest of the way to the barracks in silence. The two approached the door.

"Thanks for walking me here, Dick."

"You're welcome."

Rebecca smiled at him, hugging him again and gently kissing him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Richard, for everything."

Rebecca turned on her heel and entered the barracks.

"Goodnight, Rebecca." He whispered.

Rebecca walked over to her bed, stripped down, and tucked herself in, pride tenfold to when she graduated from nursing school. Everything felt simpler like things were about to turn around. What could possibly be thrown at her that she couldn't handle now? She felt invincible. Rebecca eventually drifted off into sleep, feeling the happiest she had felt in a long time.

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I just started a new job that's taking up most of my time at the moment. I'll try to be better. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please let me know how I'm doing! :3


	12. Chapter 12 - Divulge in You

Last Time: Rebeca and Easy become official paratroopers.

"To live it to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzche

Now: Easy Company doubts their CO as they travel to unknown territory.

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - Divulge in You**

 **Camp Mackall N.C. - 1943**

Easy Company and the rest of the 506th packed up their belongings and moved out to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. The base, named after the first paratrooper who died in World War II was a marvel of wartime construction and was like moving from prison to a palace. For Rebecca, the most impressive of the 62,000-acre camp was the 1,200-bed hospital and the heated barracks that had real mattresses on the cots.

However, despite the luxurious new home Easy Company had, training picked up with a new intensity. Jumps now included rifles and small arms. Food, ammo, maps, hand grenades, high explosives, and more were attached to their bodies making some carry an extra 100 pounds.

After jumps, Easy had two- and three-day exercises in the woods to teach them troop movements and operating behind enemy lines as large forces.

This was where Easy Company was falling into some trouble. Sobel had excelled in whipping Easy Company into shape and making them the most physically fit in the 506th, however, he was terrible in field tests. He was constantly getting them lost and out of impatience, he would deploy his troops right into killing zones.

As an invasion became more of a reality in the war effort, the faith Easy had in their CO dwindled as every exercise ended in failure.

Rebecca and Roe stood in the aid station checking inventory one day, talking about the recent field exercise that left 95% of the Company "dead".

"If Sobel keeps killing 95% of our guys, pretty soon they won't need us medics anymore," Rebeca joked while counting the number of bandages.

Roe looked up from his clipboard smiling slightly at her joke. "Than I guess we can go home."

Rebecca sighed to herself as she scribbled some notes on her clipboard. She was getting increasingly more nervous about Sobel and his failures in the field exercises. How in the name of God was he supposed to make quick decisions in a real firefight if he couldn't even do it in a test?

"But in all seriousness, if that was a real combat situation, who the hell would be stuck cleaning up his mess?" Rebecca began, "Us, that's who. You saw him out there today, he walked right into a kill zone. Not only is he gonna kill a lot of our guys, but he's gonna make our jobs next to impossible."

Even though she made her complaint more selfish than she would like to admit, Rebecca was very worried about the rest of the guys too. She couldn't imagine how they must feel about their incompetent CO.

Rebecca reached down for the box of plasma and put it back on the shelf. No matter how she looked at it, rifleman or medic, having a screw-up for a CO resulted in high casualties or death for all.

"Yeah, and that's even if we're the lucky 5% who makes it," Roe chuckled as he fumbled through a box.

Rebecca knew there's always truth in jest, and many of the men began expressing their feelings towards the situation. Most of them already began thinking death was imminent and the war hadn't even started from them yet!

XXX

The next day Rebecca, Winters, and Nixon were in their barracks packing up for the train ride taking them to New York where they would then find out if they would be going to the Pacific or Europe. As they packed each talked about the current situation with Sobel. Even Dick was worried and that worried Rebecca.

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Nixon asked.

"Nothing, just keep training the men," Winters sighed.

"I don't think "just training the men will suffice anymore". The rumor mill is turning up something fierce," Rebecca said, folding up a shirt and placing it in her bag.

The three were almost done packing when a short red-headed man with the most stunning grey eyes, walked into the barracks. He nervously glanced around becoming aware of the private conversation.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked.

Dick looked up from his packing and introduced the man to Rebecca and Nix. "No, no. Lieutenant Lewis Nixon and Rebecca Clark, this is Lieutenant Harry Welsh, just in from 82nd."

Welsh walked over to Rebecca and Nix and shook both their hands. Rebecca accepted his hand warmly, smiling at him.

"Congratulations, on the promotion." He said to Nixon.

"Oh, thanks, if you wanna call it that," Nixon smirked and continued on with the introductions. "You'll learn him pretty quickly," he said, gesturing towards Dick. "No flaws, no vices, no sense of humor." He joked.

"Just like your chums up at battalion staff?" Winters asked, cockily.

Nixon brushed off Dick's weak attempt at an insult and went on. "And, Rebecca, well she's in a league of her own."

"Ah, Lt. Clark, I've heard a lot about you," Welsh said to Rebecca.

"Only good things, I hope?" Rebecca asked.

Welsh smiled a terrific smile at her. Rebecca could tell he would fit right in with the men. Welsh seemed very easy-going.

"What's up?" Winters asked Welsh.

"I'm hearing a lot of rumblings," he said.

"Sobel?" Nixon asked, "Just talking about that."

"So, he gets a little jumpy in the field?" Welsh asked.

"Mm-hmm, he gets jumpy and then you get killed," Nixon said blatantly.

"That's nice," Welsh smirked.

"Yeah, listen, if we discuss it, I think it should be amongst ourselves," Winters said cautiously.

He had a point. They could all get in a lot of trouble for speaking ill of a commanding officer. Plus, Sobel always had a habit of turning out of nowhere. He could be just around the corner for all they knew.

"Alright, absolutely," Welsh agreed.

And speaking of the devil, Sobel came marching into the door chomping away on an apple like the horse he was.

The conversation came to a surprised halt. They all snapped to attention, hoping to God he didn't hear what they had just discussed.

"2nd platoon ready?" Sobel asked, clearly oblivious.

"Ready, sir," Winters answered.

"Then get them in formation, we're moving out."

"Yes, sir," Winters responded.

Both Winters and Welsh left the barracks leaving Nixon and Rebecca in an uncomfortable silence with Sobel. He stared at them for a few minutes, but then finally left taking a huge chomp of his apple.

"Always a charmer," Rebecca joked.

XXX

The Train ride was a godsend for Easy Company and after marching 118 miles, any form of transportation was.

Rebecca was seated with Harry, Dick, and Lewis and was so thankful she wasn't sitting with Sobel like poor Roe. Being with him at a spacious camp was bad enough, but an eighteen-hour train ride was something too unbearable to think about.

The ride was peaceful and a perfect opportunity for Rebecca to rest her eyes. She laid slouched in her seat not truly asleep but still enjoying the peace nonetheless.

"Rebecca," Nix called.

She cracked open one eye to him, annoyed.

"We're invading Europe."

Rebecca sat up in her seat, now fully awake and totally floored by the news. They were off to fight Hitler.

Nixon then turned to Dick, offering him a swig from his flask in celebration.

"Since when do I drink?" Winters asked.

"If I thought you'd drink it, I wouldn't offer it to you," Nixon explained.

"What about you, Becca, you want some?" Nixon asked.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Rebecca mumbled, laying back in her seat.

Nixon took the flask back and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nix, what are you gonna do when you get into combat?" Dick trailed off.

Since the announcement of their rendezvous with Hitler, Rebecca was too excited to try and shut her eyes. Instead, she felt it best to write Michelle who was long overdue for a letter.

 _Dear Michelle,_

 _First, I would like to apologize for not writing to you! I know it's been so long and I'm sure you're busy too. Training and trying to fit in with the men of Easy Company was harder than you would have believed. Trying to earn their respect came hard fought but I have made some progress. My company and I have been bounced around quite a bit for training but now I can officially say I'm a paratrooper! We just boarded a train to New York and my good friend tells me we're going to Europe. I just hope to God you're faring well and you're not worrying about me too much. Please know I can take care of myself just fine and I will be okay. I pray that you're safe and doing all you imagined as an army nurse. Please, keep safe and say "hi" to the rest of the gals for me!_

 _With Love,_

 _Rebecca_

 _P.S.- I've been promoted to First Lieutenant!_

After a long train ride, Easy Company finally arrived at the Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York where they would board the _Samaria_. The _Samaria_ was an old India mail liner and passenger ship converted to a troop transport. It was only built for 1,000 passengers but somehow, the entire 506th consisting of 5,000 men, crammed in and to travel to Aldbourne, England.

Rebecca elbowed the through the crowd of GI's trying to find Roe so they could distribute the seasickness pills.

"So, how was you eighteen hour trip to paradise with Sobel?" Rebecca asked as she approached the medic.

Roe looked into Rebecca's eyes with such venom, she could almost feel it enter her bloodstream. If looks could kill she would be dead.

"Ooo, looks like Sobel sucked the sense of humor out of you." Rebecca joked trying to get the poisonous look off of Roe's face.

"Let's just get these out." He said bitterly.

Rebecca smirked and agreed.

It took almost an hour of waiting before Easy boarded the ship. Rebecca finally made it on the crowded deck. She loved sailing and being by the ocean. Rebecca was always down by the water during the hot summers in Rhode Island. She seldom remembered a time when she wasn't down by Oakland Beach reading or swimming in the beautiful waters in Narragansett.

Once on deck, Rebecca and Roe began handing out their pills. When Rebecca handed the last pack out, she parted with Roe and made her way to the officers quarters. As she walked down the aerated deck to the rooms of the ship, Rebecca imagined how miserable it must be in the hull of the ship for the rest of the guys.

She approached her billet and noticed her bunkmate was already there.

"Hey, roomie." She said, throwing her bag on the empty bed.

"Hey," Dick answered back, looking intently at the letter he was writing.

She looked around the room admiring the wood finish. It was equipped with two small beds and a bedside table for each, a desk, and a small sink. It reminded Rebecca of the small rooms on the boat she had as a child _._ She definitely felt bad for the sorry suckers sweltering downstairs while she had a furnished room.

"Are you gonna watch the ship pull away?" Rebecca asked, sitting on the bed.

"No, but that shouldn't stop you."

"I might, I haven't decided yet."

Not even a full five minutes passed before someone was informing Rebecca that her presence was needed in the aid station to patch up some guys that got into a scrap.

"I'll be there in a second," Rebecca sighed.

Dick looked at her, smirking.

 _This was going to be a long trip._

XXX

After a long evening of rehydrating the seasick, patching up guys who couldn't keep their hands to themselves, and those who were pretending just to get some fresh air, Rebecca found some solace on the decks of the Samaria.

Being on the decks of the Samaria reminded Rebecca of the trips that her family would take on the water. Every summer Rebecca, her mom, and dad would take their cabin cruiser, the _Felicity_ out to Block Island, Nantucket, and Snug Harbor for two weeks. Those were Rebecca's fondest memories as a young girl. But, when her mother passed away Rebecca's father had to sell the beautiful boat in order to pay for funeral costs and medical bills. It felt like a part of her childhood was ripped away.

Standing on the deck of the Samaria made the memories come flooding back into her mind. Memories of when her mother was still alive, memories of when her father wasn't shit faced drunk, memories when her family was whole.

Tears began to well in Rebecca's eyes but she quickly wiped them away knowing this was not the time nor the place to be getting emotional.

"Becca?" The voice called.

Rebecca turned to face the voice calling out to her. It was Dick.

"Are you okay?" Dick asked, concerned.

Rebecca got up and walked passed him. She certainly didn't want him of all people to see her like this.

"I'm fine, Dick." She croaked.

Dick put his hand on her shoulder stopping her. "You don't have to have it together 24/7, you know."

He was right. Rebecca had never really been seen at a moment of weakness. She also never shared with anyone the details of her home life either. But, Dick was someone she trusted profoundly.

"I never told you about why I'm here, did I?" Rebecca asked.

"No you didn't, I figured that was for you to tell."

Rebecca sat back down on the bench. "Well, my father is dying and needs surgery and he doesn't have the money for it. So, I joined for the extra cash."

Dick sat next to her listening closely.

"He became an alcoholic when my mom died," Rebecca began,"She died when I was fifteen of ovarian cancer. I was fourteen when she was diagnosed. No had really heard of it, and by the time they found it, she was already stage four. The year she had to left live my dad was fine, and he took really good care of things. When she finally passed, that's when he turned to liquor and everything fell on me. He'd come home from the bar every night, drunk. Pretty soon he lost his job and we had to be put on welfare, which he was so embarrassed by, he drank more. I had to take care of him, the house, and myself until while I was in nursing school. The only reason that I even got to go to school was that my mom put money away for me my dad couldn't touch. If it wasn't for that it would've been blown on bills or booze. We were living from check to check. Then, a week before I'm being shipped off to Europe with the Army Nurse Corps, his liver is failed. I found out about the Airborne and the extra fifty they throw in a week in a magazine. So, here I am." Rebecca said bitterly.

Dick looked at Rebecca sadly.

"Listen, don't feel bad, I'm over it," Rebecca said.

"You don't just get over things like that, Becca." He pointed out, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, it's been eight years, Dick," Rebecca said wryly.

"So, what? She was your mother."

"My mother's already gone, Dick. I've come to live with that reality. She wouldn't want me wallowing over her forever. What I'm worried about is the fact I might lose my father too."

Admitting it, sucked the air out of Rebecca's lungs and the tears formed in her eyes again.

"I might be an orphan." She admitted, allowing the tears to flow.

Rebecca let the tears roll down her olive cheeks. It was the first time in a long time she allowed herself to cry. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle the sobs.

Before she could say another word, Dick pulled her into a warm hug allowing her to cry in his shoulder.

Rebecca hiccuped and shook as the sadness overtook her. Dick just rubbed the back of her head and allowed her to let it out.

After five minutes of embracing and letting out her sorrow, Rebecca revealed herself from Dick's shoulder.

"That's why I never drink or smoke, I'm afraid of becoming like him," Rebecca admitted.

She took in a deep breath, exhaled, and got herself together.

"Thanks, Dick," Rebecca said.

"For what?" He asked, confused.

"For always being so good to me." She said.

"Of course."

Dick placed an arm around her, and both gazed up at the stars before them wondering what future had in store for them.

Rebecca laid her head on Dick's shoulder wondering precisely the same thing.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

A/N: Wow, look at me go! Two chapter posted in a timely manner. I hope ya'll enjoyed this one. Things are gonna start to pick up from here a lot as we enter the juicy plot of the series. Thanks to all who have been sticking around with me and following Rebecca and her journey. Please let me know how I'm doing, your support is immeasurable! :3


	13. Chapter 13 - Overlord

Last Time: Sobel gets reassigned and Meehan becomes the new CO.

"True success requires sacrifice." - Rick Riordan

Now: Easy Company arrives in England and prepares for the invasion.

* * *

 **Chapter 13 - Overlord**

After thirteen days on the Samaria, Easy Company finally docked in Aldbourne, England. Rebecca was excited, to say the least. She had never been outside of the United States and couldn't wait to explore Aldbourne!

Rebecca instantly fell in love with the quaint little town they were staying in. It was a small uphill village with the most adorable shops and houses you ever saw, mostly made of brick with ivy vines specked with flowers growing over it.

After getting off the ship and taking the trucks over to the town, Rebecca learned she would be quartering with an English family, like the other officers. She was thrilled that she would be able to feel some normalcy in a home with clean sheets and a real mattress. Rebecca couldn't wait to meet the family.

Rebecca approached the small brick home with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She looked at it for a moment, taking it all in. There was a lovely picket fence surrounding the perimeter of the home with beautiful flower beds behind it and around the house. Rebecca loved that the person who lived here gardened.

Rebecca opened the gate door and approached the door, ringing the bell.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The woman inside the house yelled.

Rebecca smiled feeling like she would get along swimmingly with the boisterous woman heading to get the door.

"Ah, you must be Lt. Clark. Please come in." The woman said, swinging the door open.

She was a small, stout, middle-aged woman with kind brown eyes and a very welcoming smile. The woman wiped the straggling graying, blonde hairs away from her eyes and wiped her hands on her flower patterned dress.

Rebecca stepped into the house and was welcomed to the sound of a boiling teapot.

"My name is Theresa Abbott. I'm sorry for the chaos, love. The pot had just come to boil when you rang and I couldn't possibly keep you standing out there all day," Theresa explained, turning off the stove and pulling out two teacups from the cabinet.

Rebecca approached the woman and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am, thank you for allowing me to stay in your home."

"Oh, it's my pleasure, anything I can do to help the Yanks with the war is an honor." She smiled, "Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"Oh, no thank you, ma'am. I'm awfully tired and would love to see my room."

Theresa set down the pot and put away the extra cup. "Of course! I'm sure you're quite tired after your long trip. Come with me!"

Theresa leads Rebecca up the stairs to a room on the right side of the hall. When Rebecca saw it, she almost started sobbing. The room had a bed, freshly made and there was even a writing desk and window overlooking the town. It was the closest thing she had to a normal living space since before she left for training for the Army Nurse Corps.

"I just put down the sheets and you're welcome to anything in the house."

Rebecca set her duffel down on the bed, so excited to sleep on the comfy bed.

"The bathroom is down the hall, to the left. I've got soaps and such that you're free to use. I'll be downstairs, holler if you need anything, love."

"Thank you, Theresa. This is wonderful!" Rebecca exclaimed so happy to be staying with her.

"You're quite welcome, Lieutenant."

Once Theresa left the room, Rebecca had the overpowering urge to shower. Having access to one and with soap, at that, was an uncommon virtue that wouldn't miss out on while here in England.

Rebecca entered the bathroom and opened the curtain to the shower. She was pleasantly surprised to find not only soap but also shampoo, conditioner. Rebecca almost started to sob at such a glorious sight. She hadn't had the luxuries of different soaps since she arrived at Camp Toccoa.

Rebecca turned on the water, letting it heat up to just the right temperature and stepped under the water sighing. It had been forever since a proper shower.

Rebecca let the filth and stress wash out of her body before scrubbing her head with the sweet smelling shampoo Theresa. Rebecca made to diligently scrub her scalp to ensure that all the sweat and dirt accumulated over the last thirteen days was out. Next, she conditioned. Her once beautiful, brown, curly hair had become very dried out from just using bar soap. Rebecca let the conditioner stay in her hair to soak up the nutrients and scrubbed her dirty skin with a bar of flowery smelling soap. Once she felt satisfied, she hopped out of the shower, feeling reborn.

In no time at all, Rebecca was dried off, changed and soundly sleeping in the beautiful bedspread Theresa laid down for her.

XXX

It took Rebecca no time at all to fall in love with Aldbourne. The people were kind, Theresa was wonderful, and the town was so aesthetically pleasing to Rebecca. When she wasn't busy training with the men, she had grown to love walking around the small town, window shopping, and even buying a few items she hadn't had the luxury accessing in the States. Whatever back pay Rebecca had left over from sending it home, she often used it on small items like deodorant, different shower supplies, and some feminine necessities. It was important to build up her personal supplies before they invaded Europe.

Soon, training intensity began to pick up as the coming invasion got closer and closer. Rebecca and Roe were constantly occupied with classroom instruction and hands-on learning for the other medics. Being a ranking officer, Rebecca began to teach some of these classes.

One day, when Rebecca was through teaching, Roe intercepted her on her way back to her quarters.

"Hey, Becca, I got a guy here who's still confused on today's lesson," Roe began.

That day in class, they had been learning about the veins and how to insert an IV into a patient.

Rebecca sighed and walked back to the classroom, it had been a long lesson. Many of the men in her class were too nervous to ask questions and participation was next to none. The confused Private was standing in the front of the classroom where she normally taught and was waiting for instruction.

"It's easier to find a vein when the patient's fist is clenched and their arm is tied with a tourniquet," Rebecca began, "But, in a battle scenario that most likely won't be an option. You'll be able to find the vein easiest by using the tips of your finger and pressing gently. Once you've found an area that feels spongy to the touch, you've found your vein." She explained.

Rebecca took the privates hand and brought it to his own vein so he could feel what she was talking about.

Roe watched Rebecca explain to the private with much interest. He noticed how well she commanded the situation, as well as the attention of the young private and the class.

"There it is. Now, you try, Rebecca said.

Rebecca clenched a fist and let the private feel her arm. The private found what he thought was the vein and gently pressed a few times.

"Right there, ma'am?" He asked.

Rebecca smiled gently up at the private. "You see, you got it, good job!"

The young private smiled bashfully. "Thank you, ma'am."

"No problem. Always feel free to ask." She told him.

The private smiled, saluted Rebecca, and left. Both Rebecca and Roe started walking out of the tent.

"You're really good at that, you know," Roe began.

"What teaching? Nah." Rebecca snorted.

"Sure you are; you're patient and you explain in a way that's easily understood"

Rebecca thought for a moment. "Maybe, I'll teach when I get home."

She did like showing the new guys the ropes. Maybe teaching future nurses and medics for the Airborne would be her career when the war was over.

XXX

As the months went by, training got more and more intense for not only Rebecca and Roe but the other men too.

Soon, training was becoming less of preparation for war and more proof that their CO was an incompetent fool.

Now, his incompetence was reaching new heights. Sobel had Winters court-martialed. Everything had now come to head. And, like a cyst ready to pop, things were about to explode. Many of the men - Rebecca included - didn't want to follow Sobel into combat as it was, and certainly didn't want to when Dick was "scrambling eggs while the rest of the men made the big jump with Sobel" as Harris put it.

XXX

Finally, the men had enough; all the NCO's in Winter's platoon turned in their stripes in mutiny despite the consequences.

Rebecca was relieved to hear Sobel was leaving but not so thrilled when she learned how the NCO's got Col. Sink to boot Sobel.

"I cannot believe you would such a stupid, stupid thing!" Rebecca raged.

"Lieutenant, it was the only way. There was no way we were going to let our guys follow him into combat," Lipton reasoned.

Colonel Sink was shocked and outraged but spared all their lives since the invasion was rapidly approaching.

Rebecca soon heard that Sobel would be reassigned to Chilton Foliat. She was both greatly relieved but also very upset that Lipton, Guarnere, Bull, and Martin would do such a stupid thing like turn in their stripes.

Rebecca was heading back home when she saw Sobel driving away in a jeep with his bags. He passed by Dick who saluted him. Sobel didn't return the salute but gave Dick an icy stare, leaving him hanging with his hand still up.

Rebecca quickened her pace and made it over to Dick.

"Brrr, you see that look he gave. God, I can almost see the ice forming on your shoulder," Rebecca joked.

Dick looked at Rebecca confused, clearly not informed on what happened.

"Dick, The NCO's turned in their stripes after you got court-martialed. Sink had to reassign Sobel." She said.

Dick was shocked.

"Easy is undyingly loyal to you."

She smiled at Dick before heading back to her quarters.

XXX

Dick spent the rest of the day walking around the town thinking. He thought about the men, he thought about leading them into combat, and he thought about Rebecca and what she said. Those words struck a chord within him. He felt so lucky the men in his company trusted him enough that they would face execution.

XXX

After nine months of further training and preparation, Easy Company and the rest of the 506th would be moving to Upottery, England. The Company was introduced to their new CO, Lt. Meehan as well as the assistant platoon leader of the second platoon, Lt. Buck Compton.

Meehan was a good leader and very smart. He had been there for a little while and he was already ten times better than Sobel. Meehan could read a map like second nature, unlike Sobel, and proved he could think on his feet in combat situations.

Buck Compton, a stunningly handsome college football player with bright blue eyes and the blondest hair you ever saw, fit in very well with the other guys despite being there for such a short time. He actually spent more time with the enlisted guys more than the officers and was very friendly to Rebecca. Buck treated her with the utmost respect but also treated her like she was just another one of the guys and they joke around with each other often. He would often drag her from her tent to go socialize with the other guys.

XXX

One night alone, Rebecca laid in her tent writing letters home. The invasion was in a few days and she needed something to occupy her anxious mind with, plus she hadn't written home in a long time.

As she scribbled away nervously to Michelle and to her father, she didn't even notice Buck entering her tent, waving a deck of cards in her face.

"Come on, we're going to shoot craps with some of the guys." He said.

Rebecca sat up in her cot shaking her head. "Sorry, I don't know how to play."

"Well, I'll teach ya. Come on, Becca you've been shut in this tent since we got here," Buck whined.

He had a point. Rebecca had been becoming more and more recluse as the invasion got closer. She spent her time in her tent, reading her medical textbooks and going over her supplies. If it weren't for Buck dragging her around, Rebecca would have next to no socialization.

"Fine, just for a bit," Rebecca sighed.

"Atta girl!" Buck exclaimed, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

Buck and Rebecca arrived at Guarnere tent where Toye, Malarkey, Martin, Luz and a few others were all gathered around a tiny wooden crate, waiting for the game start.

"Hey, Becca, ain't you a sight for sore eyes." Guarnere greeted, "Feels like we haven't seen ya in forever! You never leave that tent of yours."

"Grab a seat, Lieutenant," Toye said.

As Rebecca sat down next to Toye and Guarnere, immediately feeling her anxious mood life, she felt a little grateful Buck dragged her out of her tent. Rebecca was starting to feel a little stir crazy.

"Where the hell you been, Becca?" Martin asked.

"Just preparing for the jump, that's all," Rebecca said.

All of the men shared amusing glances with each other.

"I've been nervous, okay! I wanna make I know what I'm doing." Rebecca said, crossing her arms.

Toye chuckled. "If anyone knows what they're doing, it's you, Becca."

As Toye shuffled the deck and passed the cards around, the group nodded in agreement. Rebecca hoped they were right.

"Alright, enough chatter, let's play," Guarnere yakked.

XXX

In the time period before the big jump, Winters, Nixon, and Meehan took the time to go over _Operation Overlord._ The men and Rebecca learned that the objective of the airborne was to take the town of Carentan to link Omaha and Utah beach to a single beachhead.

Rebecca made sure she memorized the plan to the exact detail. Between going over medical basics in combat and mastering _Operation Overlord_ , Rebecca was up to her eyeballs in work. The men saw even less of her.

Soon, the men found out what platoons and planes they would be in. Rebecca was not only lucky enough to be in the same plane as Dick but the same squad as well.

The night of June 3, Rebecca went over the plan for the thousandth time. When her eyes felt like they were going to fall out of her head and her brain was going to ooze out from her ears, Rebecca decided to call it quits for the night and get some shut-eye.

XXX

Finally, June 4, arrived. The invasion was upon them. All the men were out in the airfield packing up their supplies as well as mentally and physically preparing for the jump.

Rebecca was with her platoon getting oil smeared on her face. The majority of her supplies were packed up and on her. For the most part, the men were ready, but anyone who wasn't was receiving help from Rebecca. The gear they had to carry weighed more than most of the men's weight. Not to mention the leg bags, they were just introduced to that morning.

Rebecca was helping Guarnere tie his leg bag when Lt. Meehan jumped on top of a jeep gathered Easy around for an announcement.

"Easy Company, listen up. Gather up around me," He yelled, "Let's move it up. Come on gentlemen, let's go!"

The entire company gathered around the jeep Meehan was standing on.

"Now," He began, "The channel coast is socked in with rain and fog. High winds on the drop zone. No jump tonight."

Everyone was pissed evident by the collective moans and groans that emitted from the group. They had just taken the time to camouflage themselves and strap their gear on.

"The invasion has been postponed, we're on a twenty-four-hour stand-down. Drill sergeants take charge," Meehan ordered.

Rebecca didn't know whether to be happy or pissed off. On one hand, she was happy they weren't making them jump in bad conditions, but on the other, they just got all geared up and prepared for nothing.

The men all filed into the movie house to get their minds off of the invasion. Rebecca was a row behind Guarnere and company. She wasn't really paying attention to the film, just fidgeting in her seat and looking around when she saw Guarnere take out a letter, read it, and abruptly get up and storm out of the tent.

Rebecca could tell he was upset about something, judging by the way he left. Rebecca decided to follow him.

She stepped out of the theatre and into the fog. After walking around the vicinity of the tent, she found Bill.

"Bill, hey, Bill you alright?" Rebecca asked.

Bill quickly turned to face the voice calling out to him. Seeing it was Rebecca, he eased up.

He didn't answer Rebecca, just handed her the letter.

Rebecca panned over the words and when she read that Bill's brother had been killed, her heart sank.

"Shit, Bill, I'm so sor-."

Bill raised his hand, stopping her. "Don't." He said plainly.

Rebecca sighed and pulled Bill into a warm embrace. There they remained until Bill pulled apart.

"Thank you," Bill said.

He left her in the coolness of the fog and went back into the tent. Rebecca knew that he needed to deal with this his way.

Rebecca began walking around, kicking rocks up on the gravel road, when she saw Dick wandering around the airfield. She sprinted over to where he was.

"Hey, Dick," Rebecca said breathlessly.

He looked at Rebecca with a smile. "What's up?" Dick asked her.

"Nothing, I was gonna ask you the same thing." She admitted.

They walked in a silence until Rebecca broke the ice. "I'm just nervous I guess; maybe a little scared."

"If you weren't, I'd either say you were a fool or lying," Dick smiled

Rebecca sighed.

"Just hang tough, Becca." He spoke again.

Dick took an arm and draped it over Rebecca's shoulders. They walked in silence again appreciating the calm before the storm.

Rebecca arrived back to her tent and sat down on her cot. She felt a sudden weight fall on her chest. Tomorrow, the invasion was coming. No delays, no more avoiding it.

She was scared. What the hell was she getting herself into?

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day on June 5, Easy Company prepared for the jump again. They entered the airfield where some British troops wished them luck on their way towards the planes.

Rebecca greased up again and strapped on her gear with the help of Guarnere and Toye. Finally, the second platoon made it over to their plane and sat down before it. Roe passed out air sickness pills, which they were ordered to take one now and another thirty minutes in the air.

 _This is it._ She thought. The sudden dread she felt was enough to make her vomit, despite the air sickness pills she just downed.

Lieutenant Meehan shook Dick's hand and walked to his plane. He absentmindedly looked down at the air sickness pills he was holding, probably realizing what Rebecca did.

Dick looked up and began talking. "Second platoon, listen up. Good luck. God bless you. I'll see you in the assembly area."

His words were short but Rebecca knew how he felt about each and every one of them. It sufficed to say the least.

After giving his words to the platoon, Dick helped every man up, one by one into the plane. When it was Rebecca's turn he whispered into her ear.

"I'll see you down there."

Rebecca trudged over to the stairs of the plane and entered. She needed help from a few of the guys since her gear weighed almost as much as she did. Rebecca sat down and felt the giant beast startup.

After two years of training, she was finally doing this. Rebecca had trained hard and made it. Now she would have to show the fruits of her training.

After waiting in line for the others to take off, Rebecca's plane did too.

Soon darkness befell the land and it became closer and closer to jumping time. Rebecca closed her eyes and tried to relax before it was time, but her mind kept wandering. She wondered if all the men who sat with her in the plane would make it. She wondered if she would make it. After a futile attempt to shut her brain up and sleep, Rebecca stood up and walked over to where Dick was at the entrance of the plain.

She looked down in amazement at the sight before her. The entire invasion force lay below. Rebecca realized that what she was apart of, was bigger than her and bigger than anyone in the plane. It dawned on her that the freedom of the world or it's destruction was planted on her's and everyone else's shoulders.

\- End of Chapter -

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The war has begun for Rebecca and co. and things are going to pick up a lot from here. Now that college has started again for me, I'm going to try my hardest to upload, but I make no promises. If you enjoyed, please let me know. Much love! :3


	14. Chapter 14 - Bolero

Last Time: Easy Company begins there mission.

"The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Now: Rebecca lands in Normandy without the help of her company

* * *

 **Chapter 14 - Bolero**

The plane was in the air for a few hours, and every minute that passed the men became that much more jittery. Guarnere, on the other hand, looked enraged as he fumbled with his rosary beads.

Rebecca noticed how some of the men twiddled their fingers, tried to smoke, or played with their crickets nervously. She was so busy looking at the other men and their nervous habits, Rebecca didn't notice her own. She had been bouncing her leg as the plane came closer to its destination. It started with a gentle jiggle, but turned into a noisy, bouncing tap.

Suddenly, Toye - who was next to her - placed his hand on Rebecca's leg in an attempt to get it to stop quivering. _I'm not trying to be annoying_.

Rebecca looked up at Toye and mouthed an apology. He nodded and continued with his thoughts.

Abruptly, the plane began to shake as incoming booms and explosions of artillery sounded overhead. Any man who was trying to sleep was definitely awake now.

Rebecca's stomach was doing flips. _I'm going to puke up these airsickness pills_. She thought.

The explosions began to get louder and louder.

Soon following the burst of artillery, the red light flashed near the door. Winters stood up and motioned for the men to get ready, stand up, hook up, and check their equipment.

Rebecca commenced her equipment check quickly, making sure her helmet was hooked and her various bags and gear were attached.

Then the men began to sound off for the equipment check. All the men in the plane checked the others gear and gave a pat and a yell to make sure.

The explosions got more heavy and intense as the plane continued towards the drop zone. Without warning, a plane was struck by artillery and burst into flames. Rebecca saw it explode and spiral to the ground. The sight made Rebecca feel sick. _All those men were dead. That could be us any second now._

Suddenly, their plane was hit and began to get faster and faster and closer to the ground. All the men in their stick were jerked sideways and some fell onto the floor of the plane. Rebecca was filled with dread as the plane began hurdling faster and faster to the ground. The pungent smell of smoke and plane gas began to fill the air as the aftereffects of the explosion. Rebecca heard Skip said how they weren't going to need any "friggin' parachutes" if they continued to lose altitude.

Almost as if reading everyone's mind, the green light flashed and Winters yelled to jump.

Rebecca waited to jump and the anxiety in her hit its peak. Jumping now was a hell of a lot different than the practice jumps they were used to. _This time we could die_. Rebecca's mind was racing a million miles a minute.

 _What if my chute doesn't deploy? What if the plane gets shot down before I have a chance to jump?_

What if, what if, what if?

After seeing the men before her jump, it was her turn. Without hesitation, she hurled herself out of the plane. Her body jerked as she hit the prop blast, and she felt the quick falling sensation followed by the feeling of floating.

The jump would have been exhilarating if it weren't for the gunfire and bombs exploding around her. _At least I made it out the door._

Many guys didn't even get the chance. Rebecca floated to the ground and took the world in around her. The earth looked like it had been set ablaze. The sky was lit up for brief moments in time from the quick lightening that erupted from exploding bombs and the eruption of anti-aircraft guns. The ground was set on fire from the remnants of C-47's. It was a horrifying sight.

At last, Rebecca made it to the ground and tucked and rolled. She sat up on her knees and noticed her leg bag was gone. The leg bag that was sprung on them last minute with the purpose to carry more supplies, turned out to be a huge loss of equipment for most of the paratroopers dropping into Normandy. That had most of her medical supplies in it.

"Are you shitting me," Rebecca said.

Medics didn't carry sidearms, and as she looked around Rebecca noticed that no one was there to accompany her. This meant she was completely defenseless.

Realizing the situation, Rebecca began to panic. Her breath began to get labored and her heart raced.

 _I'm going to get picked off before I have a chance to do my job,_ she concluded.

Rebecca allowed her mind to spin with frustration and worries before she took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to gather herself. She did the only thing she could think of, just keep moving forward.

XXX

After walking for about an hour in the dark she finally found a road to follow. It wasn't long, however, before she voices. They were not speaking English. Rebecca stopped and crouched down, taking cover in some brush behind her. Her heart was absolutely pounding.

The voices got closer and closer until Rebecca saw two German troops walk past her hideout. It seemed as if they didn't notice her. Was she going to make it of this alive?

Just as she went to move her heel down to get some balance, a twig snapped under her boot.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_ Rebecca seethed.

Her eyes widened in horror as she heard the footfalls of the German troops stop at the sound of the branch. Rebecca placed a hand over her mouth to silence her heavy breathing. What was she going to do? She had nothing to defend herself with.

The footsteps got closer until the German crouched down to examine the bush. All Rebecca could do was look at him with absolute terror. She waited for the Kraut to alert his friend of her presence, but instead, he looked her up and down, eyeing her red cross and her obvious feminine features and backed away.

"Josef, was ist es?" His friend asked.

"Nichts, nur ein tier oder etwas."

Rebecca was stunned. He just let her go.

She waited in the bush until she could no longer hear footsteps and came out from her hiding spot. Rebecca's heart was racing. She thanked God and everything holy that she was able to make it out of that situation alive.

Knowing she had to regain her focus and continue on, Rebecca put the incident in the back of her mind and began walking through the forest.

She walked and walked, trying to orient herself. The woods eventually ended and she came upon another road. Some rustling in the bushes across from her caused Rebecca to take cover behind a road sign. She pulled out her cricket and clicked two times. After waiting, the response came back, she eased up.

Lipton and two men that Rebecca didn't recognize came out from the shrubs.

"Lieutenant Clark, that you?" Lipton asked.

Rebecca was relieved to see some friendly faces.

"Yeah, it's me," Rebecca sighed.

Lipton and the other paratroopers walked up to her.

"Glad to see you're okay," Lipton said smiling.

"You too, Lip," Rebecca said.

Rebecca glanced at the two guys from the 82nd. They looked like kids like they should be in high school.

"We'll be traveling with these two guys from the 82nd until we find the rest of Easy," Lipton explained.

Lipton, Rebecca, and the two 82nd boys walked around in the cover of brush next to a river until they heard movement coming from the bushes on the other side.

The men drew their weapons in the direction of the noise until they heard the clicks of a cricket. Lipton pulled out his and clicked back.

They jumped into the river and headed parallel to the noise.

"Who's that?" The voice asked.

The voice was familiar to Lip and Rebecca.

"Lieutenant Winters, is that you?" Lipton asked trudging through the river bank.

Lipton's group ran across the river and met up with Dick and another paratrooper she didn't know. He later introduced himself as John Hall.

Any weapon?" Dick asked.

"No sir, as soon as I hit that prop blast, so long leg bag. All I got is this knife and some TNT. These 82nd boys got their M-1's." Lipton said.

"Oh man, 82nd, where the hell are we?" The other paratrooper with Winters asked.

Dick glanced up at Rebecca and smiled. He was happy to see her safe.

"Sir, I saw a sign back thataway, said, Sainte Mere-Eglise," Lipton stated.

Dick pulled out a compass from the zipper of his pants and checked a map under a raincoat. He explained that they were seven kilometers away from the objective and said there would be a lot of walking ahead of them.

The small group began walking to the objective. Rebecca quickened her pace up to where Dick was.

"Hey, Dick. I'm glad to see you're safe" Rebecca started.

"You too."

XXX

Later Rebecca and her group met up with Toye, Guarnere, Malarkey, Popeye, and few other Easy men over by some train tracks. Rebecca didn't bother to contain her grin of relief that they were all alive and in one piece.

Rebecca walked over to the group of Easy men, relieved they had all made it. Although, she could tell something was wrong with Guarnere, immediately. He seemed angry.

"Good to see you, boys." She said to the group.

They all exchanged greetings and uniform feelings of happiness that they had survived the jump. Bill, however, just stood quietly, a grimace on his face.

The now larger group of Easy men and the stragglers made their way down the tracks. They passed over a bridge and at the sound of a carriage accompanied by German voices, began to pass under it, they stopped and readied for attack.

Winters signaled for them to get down and waited for his command to open fire. Before he could tell them to do so, Guarnere abruptly opened fire before Dick's command.

All of them, except those without weapons, opened fire on the Germans, who were yelling and screaming for their lives. After most of the men stopped, Bill was still going at it, shooting down already dead soldiers. Rebecca watched in horror as he continued to mow down the dead bodies of the German soldiers.

"That's enough, Guarnere!" Winters yelled, whipping Bill around to face him.

Bill gave him an icy look that said he wasn't a bit remorseful for what he did.

"Next time I say wait for my command, you wait for my command, Sergeant," Dick said seriously.

"Yes, sir," Guarnere said, disdain clearly in his voice.

Dawn began breaking through the sky as they made their way through a mosquito-infested swamp, Rebecca became distracted by the beauty of the sunrise. For the first time that night, she felt calm. She didn't even have time to truly process all that had happened to her, but looking at the sunrise made her feel safe. She had survived to see another beautiful morning.

Her appreciation was soon interrupted by Guarnere bitching about Winters again. He had been going off all night. His mood was honestly bringing down the whole group. Rebecca couldn't pretend not to know why he was upset. She knew it had to be about his brother. Now, though he was acting like a petulant child.

"Did you see him? He just sat there." Guarnere said.

"He didn't have a weapon, what's he gonna do, shout at 'em?" Toye replied.

"Shouts at me for killing Krauts." Guanare huffed.

"He just wanted you to wait for his command," Toye said again.

"Joe, he don't even drink."

That struck a chord with Rebecca. She was honestly sick of hearing him complain the entire night. Bill was wrong for what he did.

"Hey, Bill why don't you give it a rest, okay? I don't drink either. That makes me any less of a trooper?" Rebecca snapped.

He shut up after that.

Complete daytime befell the land as the small group of Easy Company men, Hall, and the 82nd boys found a bombed out farm. They looked in horror at the torn up bodies of dead cows and the mass destruction that surrounded the small farm. She soon discovered a dead paratrooper hanging from the tree. He was hung by his parachute strings, swinging back and forth with the gentle breeze. The private - Rebecca noted by his stripes - had a chillingly blank stare. The sight frightened her to the bone.

Lipton and the other guys started gathering supplies and Dick took the rifle off the hanging trooper.

Rebecca walked over to the hanging trooper, and cut him down from the tree. The other men watched her as she covered him with his poncho, guilt-stricken. How was it that a good paratrooper, just as good as any of them could end up going like that?

Rebecca didn't hesitate to cover up the rest of the bodies on the ground.

A plane growled loudly overhead symbolizing the start of the invasion.

"Right on time," Hall said.

"Yeah, tell that to him, Cowboy." Guarnere snapped back, gesturing to the dead trooper Rebecca was covering up on.

XXX

After walking eleven hours, the group made it to Ste. Mere Eglise, their original objective. They passed a group of German POWs that looked positively defeated. Some of the paratroopers who walked by, couldn't help themselves when it came to taunting the already beaten Germans.

Rebecca just kept walking. What was the point of kicking them when they were already down? She just wanted to find the rest Easy. When she entered the town, it took her no time at all to spot some Easy Company guys.

They were just as happy to see her as she was to see them.

"It's good to you, Becca," Liebgott said.

"I'm glad all you boys are okay. Have you seen Roe?" Rebecca asked, worrying.

"Check the aid station." Someone said.

She walked over to what looked like the aid station. It was just a haphazardly set up tent, but Rebecca knew she was in the right place, judging by the horrific smell and the line of wounded both inside and outside.

She walked in and was instantly floored by the stench of coagulated blood and other wounds. Men were lined up on stretchers set on the floor. Some conscious, others not so much. It took Rebecca a moment to remember why she was in there in the first place. She glanced around looking for her Cajun friend and spotted him next to a trooper, replacing his bandages.

"Hey, Roe. You need some help?" Rebecca asked, walking over to him.

He looked a little surprised by her sudden appearance but smiled up at her.

"Good to see you, Lieutenant. You can jump in anywhere you'd like. I'm all set over here."

Roe removed the remainder of the bandage and applied a fresh new one. "Word on the street is that Easy is going to be taking out the guns at Brecourt."

"Okay, I'm going to find the battalion surgeon and let him know we're going to need to be prepared for an influx of wounded."

Rebecca felt sick saying that. She had to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

"Battalion isn't here yet. As of right now, you're in charge."

 _Jesus._ Rebecca thought to herself. It was time to get to work.

Rebecca spent hours with Roe and the other medics who made it, caring for the wounded and cleaning up the station. The scent of fetid wounds and flesh was still keen on her nose, but not nearly as bad as it had been. Rebecca had only stopped for a drink of water every couple of hours for minutes at a time.

The woman had been on her feet nonstop for forty-eight hours and it was beginning to weigh on her. She was exhausted but felt that she couldn't possibly stop knowing that Easy was taking Brecourt Manor that very moment.

While she continued to work, Popeye came into the tent lying on his stomach. She heard him wailing and was by his side in an instant.

"Hey, Popeye, what's going on?" Rebecca asked.

"Aw, Lieutenant, I can't believe I fucked up my ass." Popeye groused.

Rebecca didn't know if it was overtiredness but when Popeye told her about his the bullet in her, she couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it was just the way he put it.

"Aw, jeez, Pop, I didn't mean to laugh at ya but -." Rebecca burst into more laughter.

Popeye, being the lighthearted fellow he was, laughed too. Laughter was the best medicine, but he did look like he was in pain.

"Alright, Popeye let's take a look at that wound," Rebecca said wiping a tear from her eye.

The surgeon that finally arrived, took out the bullet and let Rebecca dress the wound. She took some povidone, dressed his wound, and then gave him a shot of morphine for the pain.

"Alright, Pop, we're getting you outta here," Rebecca said soothingly.

"Aw, Becca I just got here," Popeye whined.

"Well, you can't do anything with a shot up ass." Rebecca smiled at him.

Popeye resigned to this fact and nodded, letting the evac team take him away. "Hey Becca, you should know, I was the only casualty from Easy at Brecourt today."

Those were the most marvelous words she heard all day. Rebecca felt as if a colossal burden had arisen from her shoulders. She let out a sigh and smiled as Popeye left the tent.

XXX

Rebecca emerged from the tent and took in a deep breath of fresh air. She made her way over to a water spout and cleaned the caked on blood from her hands and fingernails. Rebecca looked down at herself, cringing at her putrid OD's. There was really nothing that could be done for now.

She worked on some of the routine casualties outside of the tent when she the men who went to Brecourt came back. The goofiest smile made its way onto her face as she stood up to meet the guys.

"You might wanna check Malarkey for brain damage the way he ran out in the battle for that luger, Becca." Guarnere chuckled.

Rebecca laughed, hoping he wasn't serious. When they all settled in, Rebecca went to where battalion was set up, looking for Nix and Dick.

"Hey, guys." She said meandering over to them.

"Hey, kid! Glad to see you're okay!" Nix exclaimed.

"How have you been?" Dick asked.

Rebecca sighed. "Very busy. Luckily Popeye told me he was the only casualty."

"Brecourt was a success, especially so, thanks to Dick. He found some German intelligence that I just turned into battalion." Nix said.

"Great, so now what's next? Any sign of Meehan?" Rebecca inquired.

"No, not yet. We're going to be taking the town of Coup De Ville later on tonight. I suggest you get some rest before we move out."

Rebecca knew that left Dick in charge. She wasn't too hopeful Meehan had made it if he hadn't shown up yet. She was wanted to go back to the aid station and wait to see if the man would show up, but Dick advised against it, knowing the nurse had been up for far too long.

"Don't worry, we'll wake you up if someone as much as stubs their tow." Nix chuckled.

"You better." She grunted, going to find somewhere to rest.

XXX

When Rebecca woke up, it was dark out. She felt rested but already a sense of uneasiness overtook her as she heard the sound of artillery and firefight in the distance. She left the tent she fell asleep in and began walking around and looking for some familiar faces.

In no time at all, she found Dick walking around fidgeting with a can of food.

"Hey, what's a guy like you doing in a dump like this?"

Dick turned around to see Rebecca making her way over to him.

"What's up?"

"Uh, nothing. I just wanted to find a familiar face and your mug was the first I found." Rebecca laughed.

Her smile faded when she saw Dick's less than amused reaction to her joke. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Dick?"

"Well, I lost a man today." He said still fumbling with the dinner version of a K ration, trying to open it.

"What? Popeye told me you guys had no casualties."

She hadn't noticed anyone who had been in the assault missing, besides Popeye. Rebecca couldn't have forgotten about anyone.

"It was Hall from Able Company," Dick said.

Rebecca was a little relieved to hear it wasn't an Easy guy but felt sorry nonetheless.

"He was a good man." Dick then scoffed. "Man. He wasn't even old enough to buy a beer."

This was his first loss under his command. She didn't really know what else to say. She had no idea how the guilt and pain that must be accompanied with losing a man under command must feel. trying to offer some means of support she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It shouldn't have been him. Hall shouldn't even have been there. He asked to go and I let him."

"Don't blame yourself. It's war. This is the reality we live in now."

"I just need some time to think. To pray." Dick said.

"Okay."

He left, leaving Rebecca on the street side only with her thoughts. At that moment she wondered how long the war would last if she would be able to do her job, and how she would cope if she failed. Rebecca knew that casualties were unavoidable and so she looked up at the sky and asked God to help her through the toughest of times and help her accept the things she couldn't change.

* * *

 **A/N:** Do you guys ever just hate your writing? that's how I feel right now. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, please let me know how I'm doing. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide more stuff for you guys. :3


	15. Chapter 15 - The Mission Begins

Last Time: Easy Company takes Brecourt Manor.

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; is to be a nurse." - Rawsi Williams

Now: Easy Company takes the town of Carentan.

* * *

 **Chapter 15 - The Mission Begins**

The next day after taking Coup De Ville, Easy Company then took the town of Ste. Marie-du-Monte. There was time to kill before there next mission, so they loitered around waiting for the rest of Easy Company to be assembled. For many, they waited to see if Lt. Meehan would show up. As hours passed, the hope that their CO made it, began to fade.

Because of botched up the jumps were, some Easy guys like Perconte, were already at Ste. Marie-du-Monte. They were there just in time for the assault on the town.

Perconte, in his normal flamboyant fashion, bragged that he and some other guys he dropped with, stayed in a farmhouse all night and waited to attack the Germans until morning when they least expected it.

"We waited in a barn all friggn' night until we ambushed some Germans. That ain't the only thing Becca, check out his watches! I got time zones going from all around the States." Perconte exclaimed, thrusting a watch donned arm at her.

"That's great Frank." Rebecca sighed, unimpressed.

A lot of the guys boasted about souvenirs they picked off of dead Krauts.

Across the way from where Frank was sitting with Rebecca, she saw Liebgott with Tab.

"Hey, Tab get a load of this. You like that?" Liebgott said prancing his newly acquired Nazi flag.

"Yeah, it's the real stuff, man," Tab replied.

"Yeah of course." Liebgott bragged, feeling proud about himself.

Trying to one-up his friend, Tab pulled out a Kraut poncho out of his pack.

"You like this?" Tab gloated.

"Oh nice, that's a beauty sarge," Luz exclaimed.

Rebecca looked at them, dejectedly. She didn't particularly care for stripping the dead of their belongings for trophies. It left a bad taste in her mouth.

One by one the Easy men filed into the town. Rebecca saw Luz and Penkala, followed by Smokey, Shifty, and Blithe make it to the town too. Easy was becoming whole again except for Meehan and all the men in his plane. Rebecca realized that if Meehan hadn't shown up, nor any of his guys from his plane, it could on mean that the plane went down. She didn't share her thoughts with anyone, in fear of bringing down the spirits of the company. In the meantime, Dick was in charge and Welsh would be in charge of First Platoon.

Rebecca sprawled out on a Christian monument with Perconte and Dukeman, soaking up the sun's warm rays. It felt good to relax after almost three days of nonstop fighting and she was thankful for it.

Welsh appeared out of a building ordering First Platoon to move out. "Let's go, First Platoon!" He took a sip from his canteen but judging by the way he cringed, it wasn't water. "Easy's moving out! On your feet!" he began again.

Rebecca hopped up from where she was, grabbed her medbag, and followed her platoon over to where Harry was.

"Listen Up! It'll be dark soon. I want light and noise discipline from her on. No talking, no smoking, and no playing grab-fanny with the man in front of you, Luz."

Rebecca let out a chuckle. Welsh definitely wasn't as straightlaced as Dick was. He reminded her more and more of Nix.

Welsh went on, explaining that they would be taking Carentan. She remembered in the debriefing explanation on D-Day that Carentan was the only place where armor from Omaha and Utah Beach could link up and head inland. Because General Taylor was sending the whole division, the mission must have been a worthy cause. This also meant casualties would be high. Rebecca mentally prepared herself for the work that would definitely lay ahead of her.

Easy Company walked for hours and well into the night, they made their way to a lake that looked like it had been set on fire. Finally, after stepping over a charred German corpse, Hoobler realized they lost F Company again.

Hoobler gave word to Perconte who told the rest of the guys. Many just rolled their eyes or sniggered at the F Company's inadequacy to maneuver in the night time, while Rebecca thought that maybe Sobel's crazy night marches actually did come in handy.

While Hoobler and Blithe went to go find F Company, the rest of Easy's platoons crouched down near the blazing lake and waited. Finally Easy found Fox Company and they moved out.

XXX

It took four days to make it to Carentan and the division would have had the concealment of darkness on their sides if they hadn't been stopping so often to look for F Company. The 506th was deployed across the Carentan highway lead by First Platoon.

Rebecca watched as first moved up while she and the other medics would wait behind in case of casualties. As soon as they began to move up the road, the Germans defending the town opened up, catching Easy by surprise. Rebecca nearly jumped out of her skin from the sudden burst of machine gun bullet aimed at them. This was truly the first time she was under fire.

In an attempt to get some cover, the company dispersed into a trench-like dugout, most likely used as a runoff ditch. Easy was completely exposed and in fear of being shot, no one wanted to leave the ditch. Rebecca saw that Luz and Harry were the only ones who weren't trapped in the ditch. Instead, they were pinned up against a farmhouse, looking around and randomly firing off shots in the direction of the town. They were bewildered and probably wondering where the rest company had gone.

Finally, Easy got moving only thanks to Winters' hollering and the raid on the town began with different squads began clearing houses. Bullets were screaming past Rebecca and she had no idea how she wasn't getting shot. Every move she made from house to house, Rebecca felt the bullets nip at her feet and fly past her.

She stuck close with Guarnere, who was following up the rear, in case someone called for a medic.

Lipton approached her suddenly, shouting to be heard over the MG's and grenade explosions, "Rebecca, battalion wants you to stay covered and try to make your way to the aid station."

She nodded in agreement but didn't want to have to stay at the aid station while the fight was going on here.

Rebecca's heart was racing as she stuck close to the building for cover. She began her move from building to building looking for the aid station.

In one fell swoop, the characteristic low drone of German mortars began bursting. Lipton was on the fire escape of a warehouse he was taking, yelling for men to get off the streets. He probably didn't realize that he was running around in the streets like a banshee himself.

"Lipton you're out in the open! Move your ass!" she yelled, even though she knew she was preaching to the choir. He probably couldn't hear her over all the fire anyways.

Unfortunately, Lipton was caught in the sights of a German 88 that was targeting on one of the buildings. Rebecca stood up in shock as she saw him fly back from the German 88 shell. She quickly ran over to him and Talbert, who was already on the scene helping him.

Rebecca sat next to a very stunned Lipton. "Hey Lip, you're gonna be okay," Rebecca cooed. He was very much in shock and as Rebecca was checking his pupils for brain damage, she noticed his eyes traveled down to his pants. She looked quickly down at the zipper of his trousers and noticed a considerable amount of blood seeping through.

 _Oh well, no time for modesty,_ she thought.

She quickly stuck her finger inside the hole of the bloody pants and ripped them open. Rebecca checked and was relieved to see none of his reproductive parts were damaged, only his upper thigh.

Tab peered at the wound himself and reassured Lip he would be okay. "You're okay Lip, everything's right where it should be." Talbert began picking him up.

Rebecca wiped the blood from her hands onto her trousers. "Tab, I need you to take Lip to the aid station and tell Roe he's got a puncture wound in the upper right thigh and a busted up nose." Tab nodded and headed off with Lip over his shoulder.

After watching Lipton get taken over to the aid station, Rebecca heard the calm yet loud call for a medic coming from a pharmacy. She got up from her position and sprinted over. Rebecca wondered why the call for a medic wasn't more urgent but didn't dwell on it too much. A call for a medic, was a call for a medic, whether it was a scream or not.

When Rebecca got to the pharmacy, the sight took her breath away. Tipper had been investigating the building for Krauts when it got hit by a German mortar. One side of his face was severely burned, bleeding, and leaving one eye completely shut. His legs were both blown open, exposing ligaments and raw flesh, his feet actually had holes blasted into them, still steaming from the hot shrapnel. He wasn't in good shape, but he would make it. Rebecca soon determined he would lose his eye and be lucky if he didn't lose his legs too.

Rebecca looked at Liebgott who was doing an excellent job in comforting Tipper and must have been the one who called for help. She looked at him earnestly, they had to get him out of there immediately. She crouched down to Tipper and began pouring on a sulfa packet on his exposed wounds and covered up his burns with bandages. If they didn't get attended to quickly, he would have a nasty infection and soon.

Rebecca smiled at him still trying to keep Tipper calm and spoke softly to him, "Hey, darling, you're gonna be just fine." She pulled out a morphine syrette, stuck it in him, and pinned it to his jacket. She doubted that he could even really feel anything because his extensive of his injuries probably shut down his nervous system.

She took out a few more bandages and wrapped the rest of his wounds. Liebgott watched Rebecca, almost in a trance, she knew to see his friend all torn up was beginning to shake him up. "Hey, Lieb, why don't you come to take him to the aid station with me."

Liebgott nodded and helped Rebecca pick Tipper up in a two-hand seat carry. They began making their way to the aid station. When they both arrived, Tipper was evacuated immediately. Rebecca smiled at Liebgott and thanked him for the help before he went back into the fray.

XXX

Roe had been wrapping up a wounded private with a shot up leg when he saw Rebecca come into the aid station holding Tipper. A wave of relief passed over him. He hadn't seen her since the beginning of the battle and was wondering if she was okay. Judging by the amount of blood wiped on her uniform and the injured soldier she was carrying, he guessed that she was out in the hailstorm of combat running after the wounded, instead of doing what she was told–man the aid station–and allow the wounded to come to her.

The dark-haired Cajun walked over to Rebecca. "Lieutenant, I was beginning to wonder where you were. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, but Lip and Tipper got hit. They're going to be evacuated."

"That's too bad. Are they okay?" Roe said, worried.

"Lip will be okay, but Tipper has a long haul ahead of him. He was hit pretty bad."

Roe let out a sigh. "Alright. Battalion surgeon hasn't shown up yet, so you're in charge," he said walking towards a wounded man he was about to help.

Rebecca quickly looked around at the restaurant they made into an aid station. It was a hell of a lot cleaner than the station back at Ste. Mere Eglise. The stench of rotting flesh and infection wasn't present yet, and it was eminently cleaner than the previous. Having a running sink also helped too. Without another thought, Rebecca got to work. The battle of Carentan was mostly over as she could see and the severely wounded were evacuated, leaving those with minor injuries. It was a short order for Rebecca.

She was finishing up taking care of a trooper with a burned leg when Blithe came walking in with the assistance of another trooper. Rebecca rushed over to him.

"Hey, Blithe, what's going on." Rebecca did a quick scan over his body and saw no visible injuries.

"I-I can't s-see ma'am."

Rebecca was a little surprised by what he said. She didn't know if he was faking to be blind to get out of fighting or if he was actually blinded by something.

"Alright, let's get you a seat." Rebecca got out a tiny flashlight and began checking his pupils. When they didn't dilate, she became concerned. "Blithe, can you tell me what happened?"

Blithe was looking out into space and began answering Rebecca. "I-I don't know, I was fightin' but then things went black on me." Rebecca could see tears running down his face.

"Alright, honey, why don't you cool your heels, I got a nice comfy spot just for you," Rebecca said sweetly. She couldn't really do anything to help him so she moved onto men that had injuries she could help.

She walked him over to the corner and sat him down. If he was doing this to get out of combat, he sure was doing a hell of a job.

XXX

Before long, the sound of bullets and mortars ceased. The all-clear sounded off and Rebecca stepped outside of the aid station to get some fresh air.

 _I wonder where Dick is._ Rebecca hadn't seen him since the battle started and it had been a few hours.

As if reading her mind, Dick rounded the corner. However, he was limping and his leg was bleeding. Rebecca walked over to Dick and put his arm around her shoulder. "What the hell happened to you?" Rebecca joked.

Dick looked up at her, in quite a bit of pain. "Alright, let's take a look at it," Rebecca said, regretting pestering him when he was clearly hurting.

Rebecca walked Dick over to a table and sat him down so his leg was hanging off. She rolled up his leg pant and was relieved to see that it was just some shrapnel. Rebecca took out some sulfa and cleaned the wound, then took out some forceps and began looking for the bullet piece. Dick was in some discomfort judging by the way his face contorted as she prodded around his leg. "Sorry, Dick, it'll be over soon," Rebecca said trying to ease his pain.

Eventually, Rebecca found the bullet. "There it is, you're lucky it was just a ricochet. You just caught a piece of it," Rebecca said with a smile. She began to clean up the stray blood that had flowed from the wound and dressed it.

"Try to stay off of it and make sure to keep it clean."

He wasn't paying attention to her but had his focus on Blithes.

"Hey, are you paying attention?" Rebecca asked.

"What's wrong with Blithe?" he asked.

"Well, nothing physically, except he can't see," Rebecca said.

Dick jumped off of the table and walked over to him, right as Rebecca was about to get the bandage on him. Rebecca huffed in frustration but watched the exchange between the two. Dick was a good man and was a good leader. He treated all his men with kindness and encouragement. She watched as Dick talked to him and reassured Blithe that he would be okay. Dick then mentioned Blithe would be getting out of here and got up to leave. Suddenly, Blithe looked at his hand.

"Sir." Blithe said, getting Dick's attention.

"Yeah, what is it?" He asked. Blithe stood up and used the wall as a support for himself. He told Dick he could all of a sudden see.

Rebecca and Dick watched as Blithe walked out of the aid station, they both exchanged looks of bewilderment. "Alright, let's get that bandage on before you cure the lepers next." Rebecca joked.

XXX

Rebecca stayed in the aid station for a while longer after she patched up Dick. When she noticed no more wounded were coming through, she decided to take the opportunity and take a seat in the sun outside the aid station, and close her eyes.

It had been a hectic and tiring day. Rebecca had spent most of it covered in other people's blood. She closed her eyes and thought of everything she'd done.

 _Terrified, I was so terrified. But my body kept moving and got me to safety. How did I manage to keep moving forward?_

However, when her mind was relaxed and she sat reflecting.

 _At any point in that battle, I could have died._

Rebecca thought of the guys who she saw get torn up.

 _Lipton, Tipper, and all the other guys weren't so lucky as me._

Trying not to dwell on this fact, she began dozing off into a light sleep.

"Up and at 'em Becca, it's time to move out," Lt. Spiers said kicking her boot. Rebecca didn't know how long she was asleep for but was still completely exhausted. Somehow she still managed to pull herself to her feet.

She had actually never gotten to know the commander of D Company that well, but what Rebecca could tell Speirs was a serious man who took nothing from no one. But, Rebecca also knew the rumors. Rumor control had it that Speirs killed twenty POWs on D-Day and killed a sergeant in his platoon for being drunk. Rebecca knew that killing one of his own guys had to be a load of shit, but killing the POWs could have been true. Twenty was pushing it though. She had passed those POWs and knew there wasn't twenty. The tales were getting distorted and were spiraling out of control, that's usually how rumors went.

"How long was I asleep for?" she asked, pushing the rumors out of her head.

"A couple of hours." He responded and the walked away.

 _Weird._ She thought to herself.

Rebecca pushed her thoughts about Speirs out of her head and prepared to get moving. She was absentmindedly packing her things when she began eavesdropping on Malarkey, Penkala, Muck, Blithe, and More talking about the same exact thing as she had been thinking about.

Almost with perfect timing, Muck called her over. "Hey, Lieutenant, come over here!"

Rebecca made the slow trudge over to the group of men. "What's up, Skip?"

Skip looked up at Rebecca as he began packing up his stuff. "We saw you talking to Speirs over there. He mentions anything about killing More?" Skip chuckled much to More's distaste.

Rebecca looked at the group in confusion. "What?"

"Well, I'm sure you heard the rumors. And Groucho over here gave Speirs some lip. We were wondering how long he has to live," Skip said bursting into laughter.

She looked at Skip, with annoyance on her face.

"I think you have more of a chance of being shot by me than him," Rebecca said.

They brushed her off and continued on about the rumors. She didn't say anything else and walked away. Rebecca detested rumors - as she was always at the other end of one -and didn't think it was fair to Speirs to be talked about without having the chance to defend himself.

XXX

Easy Company had been moving across a field for hours to get into a new position in order to prevent a counter-assault on Carentan. The Krauts wanted the town just as much as they did, and the idea was to set up defenses so they didn't overrun the position again.

Easy was on the far end of the line totally exposed to the enemy and completely made unveiled to the elements.

The whole idea behind taking this particular field was because it was the only one not flooded by rain and it gave access to the town. But who knew how long it would last before this one was flooded too?

Being wet from the rain attracted the mosquitoes, giving them a feast. They were exposed, wet, and bitten up from bugs. All in all, it was miserable.

Rebecca was making her way with her platoon when Perconte began complaining. "Hey, Luz," he said, "how far are we goin'?"

Oh, Jesus Christ, Frank" Luz said, annoyed, "I don't know. Until they tell us to stop."

"High ground," Hoobler said, "there's high ground up ahead."

"Okay, genius, answer me this then," Perconte began annoyed, "why is Easy Company the only company who's either the front of an advance or, like now, exposed at the far edge of the line?"

"To keep you on your toes," Hoobler said again.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that we're never in the middle and we're the fifth of nine companies of this regiment. Able through Item. Think of it."

"Hey Becca," Luz said, "there any way you could bandage his mouth shut?"

Rebecca chuckled. Perconte did have a way of going off on little tangents when he was upset and it came out as more bitching than anything.

"See there, you see that-?" Hobbler began, but he was cut off by the sporadic fire of an MG forcing everyone on the ground.

"Contact right," Harry yelled, "get in the hedgerow!"

Rebecca crawled on her stomach to find some cover and would stay there until they needed her.

The cry for a medic was called very quickly.

"MEDIC!"

Rebecca came bounding over the hedgerow and went to the private calling for a medic.

He had been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding profusely. Rebecca took out a bandage and applied pressure.

"Hey kiddo, you're gonna be alright." Rebecca asserted.

This was going to be a long day.

XXX

Easy Company dug themselves in for the night while the Krauts lay just a few yards ahead. The thought of the enemy so close to them gave Rebecca chills. The situation was only made worse when it began to downpour. Rebecca pulled out her poncho and tried to keep warm with Roe.

"So," Rebecca said breaking the silence, "how are you doing?" Rebecca said spooning some of the canned meat into her mouth from her supper unit K ration. She didn't particularly have anything to say to her fellow medic, but Rebecca thought it would be better than doing nothing, focusing on the rain pouring down on them, and the disgusting army issued dog chow that passed as food.

Roe looked over to where Rebecca was and eyed her curiously. "I'm okay, how are you doing, Lieutenant?" Roe said.

"Oh, I'm just fine, Roe. I just love sitting in the mud, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, and being soaking wet," Rebecca said, sarcasm lacing her words.

He let off a soft chuckle. "Hey, why don't you cop a few, I'll be on the lookout in case someone needs us."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Rebecca said slowly closing her eyes.

Before Rebecca could stay asleep for five minutes, she heard the call for a medic. Both medics, confused, sprinted out of their foxholes the where the sound was coming from.

When they arrived at the scene, Talbert was on the ground with a stab wound given to him by his own man. Liebgott was on the scene trying to help as well. Smith was in the background apologizing while Roe and Rebecca began to patch him up.

"I didn't know it was him," Smith said, guilt lacing his voice, "he looked like a Kraut."

"Can you breath?" Liebgott asked.

"Yeah, I can breath!" Talbert said in pain.

Rebecca poured some sulfa on the wound. "Dammit, Tab. Did you have where that stupid poncho?" she said criticized. After tending to the wound as best they could, they waited for him to be evacuated.

"Hey, Rebecca," Roe said, "I'm gonna stay here with Floyd until he gets evacuated. Why don't you go back to the foxhole and rest."

Rebecca nodded and headed back to her foxhole. She walked in the cover of the brush, noticing the nasty squish the ground made under her boots from the rain. Rebecca was glad, however, that the rain had stopped. Rain only made their situation ten times worse. It was bad enough that they were on constant alert for enemy outside, but being wet in the rain only added to the misery. On the way back to her foxhole, Rebecca heard Speirs talking to Blithe. She stopped where she was to listen in on their conversation.

"You know why you hid in that ditch, Blithe?" Rebecca heard Speirs say.

"I was scared," Blithe answered back.

"We're all scared. You hid in that ditch because you still think there's hope. But Blithe the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. And the sooner you accept that the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier supposed to function. Without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it," Spiers said with an eerie tone in his voice.

Blithe sat down in his hole, with an absolutely petrified look on his face. Speirs passed Rebecca, but before he made his way totally past her, Rebecca stopped him.

"Jesus Christ, Ron," Rebecca said disturbed. "What the hell was that?"

Speirs had probably scared away any chance of Blithe functioning in battle for good.

Speirs just smiled at her slightly and continued walking.

XXX

It was D-Day plus seven when the attack finally commenced. The morning started off normal, normal as any morning for a soldier started off.

Rebecca was crouching adjacent to Welsh as he explained the plan of attack. She didn't necessarily have to hear the plan, but it didn't hurt to listen anyways. Some guys were in a foxhole next to Rebecca, trading candy and smokes. Boyle walked by, handing out ammo.

"No, we don't know what they've got," Harry explained, "We may be attacking a weaker force, possibly more paratroopers."

"And we know how they can be," Hoobler said.

Harry chuckled at Hoobler and continued. "Fire and maneuver. That's the name of the game, fire, and maneuver. Dog and Fox Companies will be on our left flank, moving with us. Any questions?" Harry finished.

All the men surrounding him shook their heads. "Let's make 'em holler," Welsh said.

Perconte rolled up his sleeve revealing his collection of watches, looking at one to see the time. "It's 9:30 in the evening back home. Must be."

Quickly interrupting the peace, the wailing sound of a mortar cut off Perconte and commenced the attack. Rebecca and Roe fell into their foxholes, anticipating the wailings that were sure to come shortly.

Rebecca heard someone screaming and immediately bolted up from her foxhole. Following the sound, Rebecca saw Blithe in his foxhole making the noise. He wasn't injured from what Rebecca could tell. Quickly Rebecca, fled from Blithe's foxhole when she actually witnessed a man get shot in the chest and go down. She didn't have time to baby Blithe when guys were actually getting killed.

She was the first to pounce. However, when she arrived to aid him, the trooper was already dead.

She watched as the scene unfolded. The battle was evenly matched. The 506th fired and the Krauts fired back. Mortars went off from their side and from the German's side. The battle seemed to go as planned until Kraut tanks came out of nowhere, overwhelming Easy Company and the rest of the 506th. It was chaos.

"Holy shit," Welsh yelled, "There goes our left flank!"

From her position, Rebecca noticed Welsh stand up and run into the fray to help McGrath fire a bazooka. _What the hell is he thinking‽_ Rebecca saw the tank get closer as Harry struggle to load the bazooka. The first shot didn't even leave a scratch on the tank. After the first shot, Harry, McGrath, and the German tank entered into a battle of who would fire first. Struggling to reload the bazooka, the tank fired first. The blast from the tank seemed to blast Harry and McGrath right off of the ground.

"Harry!" Rebecca screamed. She was prepared to go and check the remains of the two paratroopers, when she saw them both spring up from the ground and fire the bazooka, destroying the tank. Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief, but the battle wasn't over yet.

Rebecca was jumping from place to place within the hedgerows,

"MEDIC!"

 _Was that Buck? Yes, damn, I need to get to him now!_

Her heart was pounding and Rebecca's pulse thumped as she ran to his call. Rebecca saw Buck pouring sulfa on the wounded arm of the trooper and trying to stop the bleeding. She bounded into the foxhole and started aiding the trooper.

"Buck, I got this! You keep firing!" Rebecca yelled.

Buck nodded quickly and kept firing his weapon off at the Germans line. Rebecca quickly tended to the trooper and stopped the bleeding. She waited by his side as he was evacuated.

The numbers were becoming overwhelming.

 _We're gonna lose this one. There's just too many._

As Rebecca looked around, more Germans were coming through making the difference between the 506th and the Germans that much bigger. The tanks made the Krauts almost untouchable as they used them for cover.

Suddenly, when it looked like the odds couldn't be more stacked up against Easy, a defeating blast from out of nowhere leveled a Kraut tank. No one knew where it came from until Sherman tanks burst through the piles of brush. Yells and hollers of glee filled the air as second armored broke through the line, reinforcing the 506th. Rebecca was just as happy as the next guy, but her job was hardly done. The wounded were littered all across the 506th's hedgerow.

With the sudden onslaught of reinforcements, Easy Company and whoever was left gave it all they had left. The battle quickly became very one-sided. The Germans were swiftly outnumbered. American troops began pouring on more fire, engulfing the Germans who began their retreat.

XXX

In the month that passed, Easy Company spent it taking smaller towns surrounding Carentan. Rebecca and Roe had their hands always full with wounded. Whether it was heading into battle while Easy defended another town or hedgerow, or waiting in the aid station for the wounded on patrols, Rebecca always had her hands capped in blood. Soon the anxiety and nervousness that came along with going into combat, dulled.

One day Easy was on a patrol, Nixon, and Welsh along with a few other guys went to go investigate a farmhouse. Rebecca and Roe had no reason to accompany them, so they stayed behind with Winters and the rest of the Easy men.

Rebecca sat in the grass, keeping her ears open for trouble, but at the same time closing her eyes. She was absolutely exhausted. Roe sat next to her. "Hey, Rebecca, how are you fixed?"

Roe's sudden advance in conversation made Rebecca jump up in attention. He snickered as she grabbed her heart in sudden surprise. "Jesus Christ, Roe, trying to give a girl a heart attack?" Rebecca asked bitterly.

He let out another chuckle. "Sorry, chère, I didn't mean to scare you," Roe said smiling.

Rebecca raised her eyebrow at the name Roe called her. "I'm a little low on plasma, and what did you call me?" She asked, smiling.

"Cherie," Roe began, "it means 'my dear' in French."

Rebecca felt her heart pang at the sudden affection. The very shy and often uncomfortable Roe now had a pet name for her.

"If you don't want me to, I can stop saying it." He offered.

"No, I'm just flattered that you're comfortable enough with me. I didn't know you spoke French," Rebecca said.

"Yeah," Roe said, "I'm half Cajun. What about you, what -"

Roe's question was unanticipatedly interrupted as the yell for medic was heard coming from the direction of the farmhouse. Rebecca and Roe quickly grabbed their belongings and sprinted to the direction of the call.

When Rebecca and Roe got there, Blithe was on the ground with a gunshot wound to the neck. Blood was gushing out of the large hole in his neck, and he was choking on his own blood.

"It's alright, Blithe, we got you," Roe said.

Rebecca did what she could to help him, but she couldn't help but be disturbed. He was surprisingly calm despite the fact he was gravely injured, and the look on his face was almost like he was accepting his fate. It was like the words Speirs said to him not long ago, was flooding back into his memory, sedating him.

Blithe was quickly evacuated and Winters told them all they were being pulled off the line to a field camp north of Utah beach. Rebecca should have been happy with such news, the mention of hot food and showers should have made her jump for joy, but she couldn't get the spine-chilling look of Blithe's face out of her mind.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm working hard to get new ones out for ya'll. Let me know how I'm doing, love ya! :3


	16. Chapter 16 - Utah

Last Time: Easy Company successfully takes the town of Carentan and fights the Battle of Bloody Gulch.

"Give the ones the love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reason to stay." - Dalai Lama

Now: Easy Company pulls out and arrives at Utah Beach.

* * *

 **Chapter 16 - Utah**

Rebecca knew what was to be expected when Easy Company arrived at the field camp. When they got to the beach and the stench of dead bodies hit her nose and the noses of Easy Company, she still wasn't prepared for how bad it was.

Rebecca just wanted to eat a decent meal and take a shower.

The Army issued K-rations were disgusting enough to invoke actual longing for the slop they'd been served back at Toccoa. For one thing, at least that food had been hot. The crackers were stale and the canned food – always swimming in juice to keep the mystery meat from spoiling – tasted more like dog food than what was printed on the label. There was no telling how long K-rations had been sitting around in a storeroom somewhere. Rebecca would bet money that despite the jaunty "Fresh!" advertised by the wrappers some of the rations were left over from the last war. Especially since, more often than not, she was being hounded for the pills to quell rampant diarrhea from these "Fresh!" rations, that is when she wasn't using them for herself."

While she'd been busy fighting the Krauts it had been easy to ignore how filthy she was. After a while, the smell of sweat and dirt had become normal. If anyone noticed anymore, no one mentioned it. The thought of a shower and the knowledge that the last time she'd been clean was over a month ago in England made Rebecca feel squalid, and her skin crawl.

Rebecca jumped off the truck that had transported them to the beach and was headed with the rest of the company towards the showers.

Alas, she never got the chance. Roe found her first.

"Lieutenant," Roe said, "They need us at the aid station." A shower would have to wait.

When the two arrived at the aid station, Rebecca saw the horror of what had taken place on the beaches of Normandy just one month earlier.

Army rangers who had just taken the beach one month earlier were continuing with the invasion of France. The injured, however, were left behind on the beach to suffer.

The aid station was a large green tent with cots set up side by side like most ERs were. However, it was similar to being inside of a slaughterhouse.

The wounded who remained in the aid station had injuries so gruesome.

As soon as Rebecca pulled back the flap to enter the aid station, she was met with the staggering smells and sights of the remaining injured.

The putrid stench of flesh and infection assaulted her nose, causing Rebecca to gag. The smell that she first encountered on the beach was nothing compared to the scent of the dead and dying she smelt entering the tiny aid station.

There were men with multiple amputations that were still not stable, victims with burns so deep that bones could be seen under their black flesh, and infection from varying injuries was found in almost every soldier.

Infections were so bad that pus had to be drained from wounds almost every hour.

The lack of supplies made the situation that direr. Antibiotics for infections, plasma, proper disinfectants, bandages, and painkillers were seriously lacking making Rebecca's and all medical personnel's job much harder and frustrating.

Instead of trying to process the carnage and allow it to affect her, Rebecca rolled up her sleeves and got to work with Roe at her side.

Rebecca began by checking each wound of her assigned men for infection. If the wound looked halfway decent she would clean it off and replace the bandage. If the wound was infected she would administer whatever antibiotics, frugally, depending on how bad it was, thoroughly clean the wound, redress it, and repeat.

She also tried to clean up the aid station to make the area a little more comfortable for the men who had no choice but to stay there and endure the disgusting conditions.

Rebecca was in the process of disposing of bandages and cleaning up the area when she heard the moaning of a young private who had a pretty infected bullet wound in his shoulder.

She put down the bucket of blood-soaked bandages and approached the young ranger's bed.

"How are you doing?" She asked, checking the wound.

The private didn't respond.

"Do you need something for the pain?" Rebecca asked again.

"All my buddies…" he began, tears beginning to well in his eyes.

"All my buddies are gone." He said breaking down.

His body wracked as he broke down in front of Rebecca.

She swiftly took the young private and wrapped him into her arms as he sat up and sobbed.

Rebecca felt her heartbreak and all she could do at that moment was let him cry. His head was buried in her chest, and Rebecca rubbed soothing circles on his back.

She was at a loss of words. Rebecca had no idea how to console this young man. Any attempt to try and comfort him seemed inadequate for the pain he was feeling.

Roe who was at the opposite end of the aid station saw this confrontation and approached Rebecca.

The ranger soon let go of her and Rebecca gently laid him back down on his cot.

Roe came up to her and the two exchanged brief looks of shock from what had just happened.

"I finished with my guys so I'm gonna head out now. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm not quite done yet so I'll see you later. Go get some food, a shower, and cop a few." Rebecca ordered.

Roe nodded his head and exited the aid station.

Pretty soon, many of the men began confiding in Rebecca as she walked around and tended to them. She was horrified. What the rangers experienced was unlike anything she had on D-Day. Rebecca spent the whole day taking care of her patient's physical and mental injuries.

Eventually, Rebecca realized she needed to catch her breath. She left the tent and put her arms over her head, sucked in the sour air, and let the pain and torture she experienced in the aid station hit her.

 _How am I going to do this for the rest of the war?_

In the spur of the moment, memories of all the wounded and dying men from every battle and aid station she'd stumbled upon flooded her subconscious.

Rebecca's blood ran cold and her heart raced. Her breathing became more labored and her chest hurt.

She felt her hands tremble as fear, guilt, and sadness took over her body. Rebecca began to breathe deep and try to calm herself.

After a moment she calmed herself down, Rebecca quickly cleaned herself up and prepared to go back in.

Just as she was bracing herself to go back in, Roe found her.

"Lieutenant, you're still here?" Roe asked.

She was so wrapped up with her duties in the aid station she hadn't even realized that it was now late afternoon and Roe left hours ago.

She was taken aback by just how long she was really in there for. "Sorry, Gene, I just got caught up." She managed to croak out.

Rebecca noticed Roe had been showered, had a fresh uniform, and looked a little less tired than when she last saw him.

"I-I'm done now, I think I'm gonna go catch some sleep."

She quickly went back into the aid station, grabbed her belongings, and staggered out onto the open field to find a place to sleep.

Rebecca had thought she knew exhaustion from her countless hours studying in nursing school or making rounds at the hospital in the late hours of the night. But that had been completely turned up on its head after her first month in Normandy.

Sleep was often sacrificed when men needed attending to, and Rebecca began running on nothing but coffee and sheer determination to keep awake.

When she did manage to find some time to hit the racks, it was only for a few minutes or an hour before she was awoken to move out again or take care of someone else. That had gone on for a month, Rebecca was sleep deprived.

She finally found the barracks, found the first open rack, laid down, and slept not even caring about how filthy or hungry she was.

As soon as her head hit the pillow she found a solemn sleep, the kind of sleep that's so deep you wake up not knowing what day it is. That was the kind of sleep Rebecca desperately needed, and by some miracle got.

Rebecca woke up with a start, yanked from sleep by Guarnere.

"Lieutenant Clarke, come on, it's time for chow."

Rebecca glanced around the barrack and noticed how the sun flooded in. It must be morning. She rubbed her eyes and swung her legs over the bed.

"What time is it?" Rebecca groaned.

Guarnere rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch. "Seven AM, you gotta get moving. We're going back to Aldbourne."

Rebecca didn't know which news was better: that they were pulling out or the fact that she had slept from late afternoon until seven the next morning.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. Let's get some chow before we move out. I'm starving." Rebecca said.

The two arrived at the mess tent and got in line. Rebecca couldn't have cared less what the food was, she was just glad to have something hot in her stomach. She sat down with Bill. Toye, Perconte, Malarkey, Luz, and few other guys joined them.

"Hey, Becca, we haven't seen you since we got here! What's going on?" Perconte asked.

"Oh, you know, playing nurse as always," Rebecca said sipping her coffee. She looked down at her plate and shoveled some of the gruel into her mouth and dipped some of the Wonder Bread in it. It was bland but it was a five-star meal compared to the canned food she was used to.

"What's the matter, not enjoying your tropical beach vacation?" Malarkey said.

Rebecca scoffed. "These beaches have nothing on the ones back in Rhode Island," she said. Despite being a small state, Rhode Island had gorgeous beaches. It only took about forty minutes to get to Sand Hill Cove.

"You're from Rhode Island?" Luz quickly piped up.

"Born and raised." Rebecca realized she had never really talked about her home life to anyone, she knew more about the guys than they knew about her.

"Holy shit! Where from?" Luz said getting excited and slamming his mug on the table.

Rebecca laughed, "Warwick, how about you?"

Luz quickly struck up a conversation all about their home lives. The two didn't even realize they were the only two left at the table.

"Can you believe it? Two people from the same tiny ass state, the same damn city, and now we're in the same company fighting the same damn war." Luz said chuckling to himself.

Rebecca smiled into her coffee and was about to add a comment when Nixon approached the two. "Hey, Becca, I hate to interrupt, but we're moving out soon and we need an extra officer to help round the guys up."

It often slipped Rebecca's mind that while she was parading around as the company nurse, she was an officer too. Rebecca sighed.

"Alright, Lew, I'll be there. See ya later, Luz," Rebecca smiled to him as she got up from the table, policing her area.

XXX

Rebecca and the rest of Easy were thrilled to be back in Aldbourne. The month they had off the front lines lost its luster, after all their seven day passes expired.

Many men, Rebecca included, had spent their leave in London enjoying time away from the hell of war. But as soon as their much-needed passes expired, it was back to the hell of training and preparation for the next jump.

Easy Company partook in long marches, runs, vigorous obstacle courses, and more classroom instruction. It was like being back at Toccoa except they didn't have to worry about Sobel making life worse. Winters was now the Company CO, promoted to captain for his leadership in the battle of Brecourt, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. That made the grueling training a little easier.

Rebecca had noticed with Winters's promotion, she saw less and less of him. It didn't really seem to bother Rebecca during the day, because she was busy herself, but when weekends came around she found herself spending more time with the NCO's and enlisted guys than Dick and Lewis.

One day, while Rebecca was teaching a class to the new medics, she saw Dick pop his head into the class and take a seat. She didn't make too much of a fuss about it and continued teaching. When the class ended everyone filed out but Dick. Rebecca started her descent from the front of the class.

Rebecca eyed him curiously and approached him. "Hey, Dick, what's up?"

"I have some good news."

Rebecca raised her eyebrow. The only news that she thought would be worthy enough of good would be Hitler surrendered and they could go home.

Dick pulled something from his pocket. "Colonel Sink has seen it fit to promote you." He handed her a set of captain's bars.

"I don't understand. Why?" Rebecca said as Dick began unpinning her lieutenant's bars and pinning on the new ones.

"He asked me if I felt as if any of the NCO's or officers deserved to be promoted along with me and I thought you did."

Dick must have seen the confusion on Rebecca's face because he continued.

"Becca, you've proven to be a fine nurse. You look out for the men and you're a fine paratrooper."

Rebecca's confusion melted to pride. "Thank you, Dick."

"See you around," Dick said before leaving.

Rebecca watched as Dick left. She walked back to the front of the classroom and began packing up her belongings.

XXX

Weeks passed and the leave from combat the men of Easy Company had gotten accustomed to was quickly ending. The thought of going back to combat was looming over all their heads as the days went by. Along with the sudden onslaught of replacements, some of the wounded returned too. It was a good reason to celebrate and be dressed up.

Rebecca was sitting with Martin, Luz, and Skip, enjoying a hot meal and the company of her friends in the barn gone mess hall.

Abruptly, the room quieted as hushes were heard all around. Smokey, who had returned from the hospital, began to recite what happened the night Tab got stabbed by Smith.

Rebecca remembered that night explicitly.

Though she remembered the incident less fondly. she still found herself chuckling as Smokey stood in front of everyone with one crutch reciting the night of the bayonet.

As soon as Smokey finished his poem, the lull of conversation continued. "So, Captain," Guarnere began.

"We were wondering if we're gonna see any more of you since you're a big ole hotshot now," Guarnere said laughing.

Many of the guys had been given Rebecca a hard time for being promoted to captain. It wasn't in a bullying way, more of a friendly, teasing kind of a way.

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Guarnere's jab at her newly acquired rank.

"You know, just cause we're friends doesn't mean I can't write you up for a court-martial for mouthing off to a superior officer," Rebecca said with a smirk.

The entire table broke out into wallops and smacked Bill on the shoulder. Rebecca was beginning to get good at sniping back at the boy's offhand comments.

"And to answer your question, no. I'm still the Company nurse so you haven't got rid of me that easy."

Luz patted Rebecca on the back. "Let's keep it like that, huh?"

With the end of their conversation, they all refocused on Smokey again as he finished his poem.

Without warning, Guarnere put a hand on the chest of a redheaded replacement. Rebecca figured, knowing Bill, he was either gonna start a fight or make a friend.

"You, Heffron?" Bill asked.

"Yeah," The replacement said, looking down at the hand on his chest and then back at Bill.

"Where you from?"

Hearing this, Rebecca knew he meant no harm and went back down to her food.

"Who's askin'?" Heffron demanded, still confused.

"From Philadelphia?" Guarnere asked, hand still on Heffron's chest.

"South Philly, yeah." Heffron's friends began shifting, assessing the situation.

Rebecca at this point was sure it was nothing, but new replacements who weren't accustomed to Bill's behavior were probably thinking their buddy was in trouble.

"Ah, I could tell. Seventeenth Street." Guarnere said as if stating that information meant something.

The bitter glare Heffron had on his face melted away in a smile. "Front Street!" Heffron said holding out his hand for Bill to shake.

Bill welcomed the young redhead, who liked to be called Babe, with surprisingly open arms considering he was a replacement. He had the same South Philly accent Bill had and was almost like a carbon copy of the fiery Italian Rebecca knew and loved. Babe was a very friendly character who took to Rebecca well.

After Bill and Babe were done with their conversation about home and talking about the local nutjobs, Babe switched over to Rebecca.

"So, you're the dame captain everyone's been talking about? I've heard so much, it's kinda hard to pick out what's true and what ain't."

The smiles at the table faded. Rebecca didn't particularly care what some new replacements or other company guys thought of her so much anymore. But that didn't stop the Toccoa guys from caring.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Luz snapped.

Babe was very aware that he was treading on thin ice now. His smile faded, as he felt daggers beating down on him.

Before Babe had a chance to rectify his mistake, Bill held up a hand.

"Listen here, Babe, you ain't gotta listen to nothing or nobody here concerning Becca unless it's from one of us or her. You understandn' me?" Bill said.

Rebecca felt sheepish. _I had no idea the guys felt so protective of me._

Babe nodded his head and his attention was brought back to Smokey again, as he presented Tab with a Purple Heart. The whole barn erupted into cheers and whistles making it the perfect way to clear the awkward atmosphere that had surrounded Rebecca's table.

Rebecca scanned the faces around the room and saw the distressed look Lipton was sporting. Lipton didn't seem to notice Rebecca watching, as he stood up in front of the room.

"Couple of announcements, men. First, listen up," Lipton began.

The room got quiet as hushes were heard around the barn.

"The training exercise scheduled for 2200 has been canceled."

The barn erupted with the roar of applause and cheering, but Rebecca wasn't clapping. She knew, judging by the look on his face that it wasn't all good news.

"Secondly," Lipton said holding up a hand to stop the premature celebrations. "All passes are hereby revoked." The moans and groans began venting in the air. "We're heading back to France. So, pack up all your gear. We will not be returning to England, boys. Anyone who has not made out a will, go to the supply office."

 _This sounds pretty serious,_ Rebecca thought. It was disheartening seeing all the now depressed looks on the faces of Easy Company.

"The trucks depart from Membury at 0700. As you were," Lipton finished and walked off.

 _Poor Lipton. It must stink being the bearer of bad news_.

The conversations continued, but not to the same degree as before. The dark storm cloud of war was looming over their heads once again.

Unexpectedly, Malarkey approached their table to talk to Skip.

"Hey, Skip, I'm heading over to Mrs. Lamb to pick up my laundry. Wanna come?" Don asked.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna sit here for a bit and enjoy the last few moments civilization has left to offer me," Skip joked, half-heartedly.

Malarkey nodded his head, a little disappointed in his friend's response. He began to walk away

Before Malarkey had a chance to make it out of the barn, Rebecca piped up. "I'll go with ya, Malark," She said.

Don broke into one of his characteristically warm smiles. He nodded and continued to walk with Rebecca at his heels.

XXX

"Hello?" Malarkey said as the two ducked into the small cottage. Both Rebecca and Malarkey took off their side caps and tucked them into their belts.

Rebecca had only been to Mrs. Lamb's once, but she loved the small makeshift laundromat that obviously also served as Mrs. Lamb's home. It was small but had character and reminded Rebecca of the small beach view cottages on Nantucket.

"Hello?" Malarkey said again when no one answered.

The middle-aged women rounded the corner and wiped her hands on her apron before shaking hands with the two.

"Good morning Mrs. Lamb. Um, sorry to bother you so early."

"That's alright, Private ah—."

"Malarkey," Don answered.

Rebecca also held out her hand to shake. "Captain Clark, ma'am," she introduced herself with a smile.

Mrs. Lamb returned the smile. "Come in."

"Actually, it's Sergeant Malarkey now ma'am. I just got promoted."

"Oh, lovely," Mrs. Lamb said with another warm smile.

Rebecca looked around the cottage for a brief moment and noticed a little girl - maybe twelve - ironing some uniforms. She must have been Mrs. Lamb's daughter. The girl looked so sweet and innocent. She noticed Rebecca staring and gave a quick smile before going back to work.

"I expect you'll be wanting your laundry. I heard the trucks rumbling by all night," Mrs. Lamb said.

"You too, dear?" she asked Rebecca.

"Yes, please, ma'am," Rebecca said.

"I guess the Yanks must be on their way off again," Mrs. Lamb inquired.

"Yes, ma'am," The two answered in unison.

"Looks like for good this time," Malarkey added.

Hearing Malarkey's statement made her feel even worse about going back to the hell of combat. She tried to not to dwell on how many men they would lose this time around. Easy had gotten lucky on D-Day and at Carentan, but that luck wouldn't last forever.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mrs. Lamb said, jerking Rebecca out of her somber thoughts.

Mrs. Lamb reached down and pulled Malarkey's laundry package off the shelf and on a table. "Er, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, light starch. Two Bob and Tuppence please."

Malarkey pulled out his change and had no idea what "Bob and Tuppence" were so he just held out his hand for Mrs. Lamb to take what she was owed.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"And for you, love, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, no starch. Two Bob and Tuppence for you as well." Mrs. Lamb pulled her package off the shelf and placed it on the same table Malarkey's laundry was on.

Rebecca pulled out the coins needed. She had no clue what "Bob and Tuppence" were either, but she watched Mrs. lamb draw the coins from Malarkey's hand and held out the same.

Mrs. Lamb took the change and thanked Rebecca.

"Would you two like a cup of tea? I've got the water boiling."

 _A cup of tea would be great right about now._ Rebecca thought, but they were all in such a hurry.

"No, no thank you. We're in a hell of a—. Bit of a hurry, er, thank you anyway." Malarkey said stumbling to correct himself, forgetting he was in the presence of a lady.

"Oh, um, Private, Captain?" Both Rebecca and Don turned around.

"Yes, ma'am?" Don asked.

"Lieutenant Meehan's one of yours, isn't he? I hope he hadn't forgotten his laundry."

Rebecca and Malarkey stiffened and felt a cold wash run down them. Mentioning someone's absence was almost unheard of in the Army. Everyone knew what had happened to them, death or horrific injury. Bringing it up was almost a taboo.

But there was no way for Mrs. Lamb to know. It was unfair for her to do extra work; the Army should have notified her. Rebecca noticed how Malarkey's attitude changed.

Don looked confused on how to handle the situation. Rebecca watched him nervously glance around the room and at herself. His voice became very hushed and despondent as he replied to Mrs. Lamb.

"I'll take it," Malarkey croaked, dejection lacing his words.

"Thank you," Mrs. Lamb said, completely oblivious to the elephant in the room.

Rebecca watched as she took the money Malarkey held out for her again, and how Malarkey eyed the package of laundry like it had a ticking time bomb in it.

"You, um, couldn't be a dear and help me with a few others, could you?"

Malarkey and Rebecca watched Mrs. Lamb like she had ten heads as she began reciting the names of their dead friends who'd left their laundry behind.

"Er, let's see. Sergeant Evans, Private Moya, Blowzer, Gray, Miller, Owen, Collins, Elliot, Blithe."

The last name made Rebecca's already unsteady breath hitch.

The sudden unpleasant memory of how Blithe was shot flooded back into Rebecca's consciousness. It was one of the many battlefield casualties she had tried to forget. Now, she vividly remembered all of the men who had died from Easy on D-Day. Men she had no way of helping.

"We'll take care of it," Rebecca managed to get out.

Malarkey and Rebecca left Mrs. Lamb in a state of shock. It wasn't until halfway back to barracks that Rebecca was able to say something.

"I'll notify Col. Sink about the laundry."

Malarkey stopped. "You sure Becca?" Don queried.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm the ranking officer and it would be unfair for me to place this task on an NCO," Rebecca pointed out.

"It wouldn't be unfair. It's kind of a sore subject for you more than anyone being a medic and all, and I just—."

Rebecca interjected before Malarkey could finish. "Don, it's fine. I'm okay." She then put on the biggest fakest smile she could muster up to show she was alright and took the laundry from Don.

The two walked back to the camp in silence. When they arrived Rebecca headed over to see Col. Sink.

XXX

After talking to Col. Sink about the dead's laundry, Rebecca headed back to the officer's quarters where she sat down on her bed and broke into a terrible, messy bawl.

Rebecca cried for those who'd died on D-Day; she cried for the dead of Easy; she cried for their moms, and dads, children, wives, sweethearts; she cried for herself, and she cried for the men of Easy that were doomed to the same fate of the men who perished on D-Day. She cried until her head hurt so badly she couldn't think straight.

Rebecca spent the rest of the day in her bed too heartbroken to move. Instead, she curled into her blankets and let the stray tears roll down her cheeks and stain her pillow.

XXX

The hyped up mission that had caused Rebecca so much grief, ended up being cancelled—right as they were about the board the planes even—and was accomplished by Patton and his tanks. General Patton overran their drop zone leaving some feeling like they had been jipped, but it left Rebecca relieved.

 _Another stay of execution,_ she thought bitterly.

It was mostly the new replacements who felt like they had been cheated.

The veterans were not fond of the new recruits, called "replacements". There were two main reasons for this: first, because the newcomers were replacing dead friends, and second, the newcomers had odd ideas about battle.

They were all "bright eyed and bushy tailed" to get a taste of some action, which pissed many of the Toccoa men off.

The replacements had no idea what combat had in store for its woeful participants. They wouldn't understand why they were hated so much for their outlook on the whole situation.

They wouldn't understand until they were faced with the horrific reality of cradling their dying friend as his lifeforce drained out from him, or it was themselves dying miserably.

When Easy headed back to Aldbourne, Rebecca found out that Mrs. Lamb was fully compensated and then for the dead's laundry. At least someone made good of the otherwise dreary situation.

With the sudden onslaught of time on their hands after almost all their drop zones had been overrun, Easy Company was left to prepare for their next jump.

Despite their unquenchable desire to "get a taste of the action", replacements were very green and had a long way to go before they were combat ready. While Easy Company was in still stationed in Aldbourne, it gave the veterans a lot of time to train the replacements.

Toccoa men were quick to get angry at replacements when they didn't get something right the first time.

They may not have been hollered at as much by the likes of Guarnere, Toye, Martin, and the other sergeants if they weren't constantly asking when they were jumping next, despite how green they were. How on earth would they be ready to go into combat if they could barely make it through the basics of training?

XXX

While they were waiting for their next orders, Winters asked Rebecca if she would give Easy Company a refresher course on first aid.

So, on a rainy day deemed too cold and miserable to do any PT, Rebecca gathered the entire company in a large green tent and began going over the basics of combat first aid.

"Okay, class, just to recap what we learned today. First, check to see if the man is breathing, second check for a pulse, third put pressure on the wound using the first aid kits provided, and lastly wait for your medic, which in this case will either be me, Roe, or Spina."

Rebecca spent a minute looking at the faces before her.

 _Bored, they look bored._

"Next class, we will be going over how to properly apply a bandage and how to distribute morphine. Dismissed."

The men began piling out of the tent, probably glad to stretch their legs. Rebecca began packing up her supplies and exited out of the back of the tent.

Guarnere and Toye started were packing up their notes and about to leave when they heard two replacements talking rather loudly.

"Ugh, I'm sick of this bullshit. I just wanna jump already and kill some Krauts, not be lectured by some dame," one said.

"You got that right, what the hell is she still doing here anyway? Wonder how far she had to spread her legs become a captain?" the other replied, hitting his buddies chest playfully and laughing.

Swiftly, Guarnere and Toye whipped around and headed in the direction of the two big mouthed replacements.

The two approached the young replacements, not thinking twice about getting in their faces.

"You mind your fucking manners. That dame happens to be a captain and you're lucky I don't write your asses up for talking about an officer like that." Guarnere snapped, going toe-to-toe with one of the kids.

The two new guys' eyes suddenly went wide-eyed with fright. "S-sir?" one asked.

"You replacements sure have a lot of shit to say considering you don't have any stars on your jump wings yet," Toye pointed out.

"Captain Clark could be the one saving one of your sorry asses one day, and I wouldn't want to make her think twice 'bout it," Guarnere said, venom still lacing his words.

"We better not hear any of that bullshit circulating around again. You better tell your buddies that too. Ya, hear me?" Guarnere barked.

"Yes, sir!" The two replacements replied quickly.

Bill and Joe watched as they both quickly scrammed out of the tent.

"Fucking replacements," Guarnere grumbled.

Toye let out a long sigh. "I just hope the Captain ain't heard anything about this. She'll be crushed," Toye said.

"We'll just have to keep our ears open for any more rumors going around, Gotta stop this thing before it starts. I'll let Malark and a few other guys know too," Guarnere added.

The Toccoa boys wouldn't allow any stupid replacements to bully Rebecca out of here. It wasn't right. They all knew she belonged here by proving herself at Toccoa, all those years ago.

 _Becca's a damn fine medic and earned her right to be here,_ Bill reflected.

The two walked out of the tent and made their way back to the barracks to raise hell.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

A/N: Hey, I hope ya'll enjoyed! I'm working my but off to post new chapters and I'm really happy you guys are liking the changes I've made thus far. I have a lot of ideas for Rebbeca. Things are gonna get wild! Please let me know how I'm doing! :3


	17. Chapter 17 - Trouble in Paradise

Last Time: Easy Company witnesses the horrors that took place on the beaches. Guarnere and Toye hear the replacements bad-mouthing Rebecca.

"Respect is not imposed nor begged. It's earned and offered." - Unknown

Now: Rebecca grows more concerned about the replacements. Moving out looms over everyone's heads.

* * *

 **Chapter 17 - Trouble in Paradise**

Rebecca had never had a problem with the new replacements coming in. Though there would no doubt be some who would have something to say about a woman being a high ranking official, she was never bothered since her rank made her practically untouchable. However, she noticed lately the replacements had been acting suspiciously respectful and almost afraid of her when she was approached by them.

The first instance happened when Roe and Rebecca were in the aid station. A replacement by the name of Hathaway came in for a rolled ankle he needed to be wrapped. Rebecca instantly saw his demeanor change when he saw she was in the station, his body becoming stiff and the nervousness practically radiating from him though he appeared quite relaxed before Rebecca had entered. She watched carefully as the young private limped over to them, clearly trying not to show his sudden onset of fear at the sight of Rebecca. Hatchway began teetering closer towards the cots until, in his nervousness, he banged into one which had a box of glass plasma bottles sitting on it, knocking it over. The box came down hard, the bottles shattering and spilling their contents all over the cardboard. Rebecca sighed when she saw the mess made by the private's clumsiness.

"C-captain I-I'm so sorry!" Hathaway said trying to pick up the box. He looked into Rebecca's face with absolute fear like she was going to come crashing down on him. She probably should have since that was precious medication they often ran out of in the battlefield, but Rebecca wasn't quick to anger. Who knew when they would be jumping next anyways?

Unfortunately, the box was completely soaked and when Hathaway went to pick it up the bottom tore and the remainder of the bottles came tumbling down on the floor. Whatever could have been salvaged was now completely destroyed. Rebecca and Roe looked at each other, trying to contain their smiles. Poor Hathaway stood with the box in his hands, staring at the broken glass as the remained plasma spilled on the floor, utter shock and embarrassment clearly evident on his face.

"It's okay, private. I can't say I haven't been that clumsy before, myself," Rebecca assured him, picking up the pieces of glass. It was a complete lie, but she was trying to make Hathaway feel a little less embarrassed. Roe raised his eyebrow at Rebecca's comment. He knew damn well no such thing ever occurred on Rebecca's watch.

After Roe and Rebecca picked up the mess before the plasma spread everywhere, Rebecca tended to Private Hathaway's ankle. He didn't move, talk, or flinch as if showing one sign of discomfort would cause Rebecca to rip him a new one. When she was finished, Hathaway quickly hopped off the table and scurried out of the aid station.

"Jesus, Becca, what the hell did you do to him?"

"I have no idea," Rebecca murmured.

That occurrence wasn't a one time deal. Replacements would put considerable amounts of distance between themselves and Rebecca when she was walking from place to place, any conversation they seemed to have suddenly come to an abrupt stop when she walked by or happened to be in the same room, and almost all of them sat in the back of the class when she taught the company first aid. After witnessing the sudden behavior change the replacements seemed to possess towards her, Rebecca came to a conclusion.

 _I'm getting to the bottom of this_ , Rebecca deduced.

XXX

During meals, Rebecca liked to switch off between the officers mess and enlisted. She was proud to say that she had a healthy and strong relationship with both of them and it was a nice change from two years ago when the men of Easy Company couldn't even give her a look as she walked by without sneering.

She had eaten breakfast that day with the officers and was making her way to the enlisted mess. She had every intention of sitting with the guys that day, but she also needed to find out what was going on with the replacements. Rebecca entered the smelly barn and got in line. She always felt bad whenever she thought of how the enlisted men had to eat in such a filthy barn, but right now she was on a mission and the barn could be on fire for all she could have cared. After the cook glopped the pile of mystery meat on Rebecca's plate, she eagerly looked around the room and tried to find Guarnere, whom she thought may be a prime suspect behind all this. Rebecca finally spotted him sitting with Toye, Malarkey, and Martin; all suspects too. She power-walked over to them, placed her tray down, and sat.

"Hey, Becca, what's going on?" Guarnere said, taking a bite of food.

"I want to know what the hell you guys said to the replacements that seem to've turned me into Hitler." Suddenly all four men all broke out into smirks and chuckles.

"What makes you say that?" Malarkey snickered. Rebecca looked around the table and glanced at the laughing faces, suddenly becoming flustered.

"Guys, I'm serious!" Rebecca said sternly.

"We noticed that our newest additions were so eager to get into combat, that they forgot their place in this company. We had to whip them into shape," Toye stated blatantly. Rebecca felt angry all of a sudden. She was a captain but no one treated her like one.

 _They baby me._

"I appreciate all of your concerns, but you seem to forget I am a captain. I think sometimes you guys forget your places too." The smiles at the table suddenly turned to frowns. "Thanks anyways guys, but I can take care of myself."

Rebecca got up in her fit of anger and hurt and left them all at the table.

XXX

It had been weeks and no clear plans of moving out any time soon circulated around Aldbourne. Many missions had been canceled previously thanks to Patton and his tanks, but it had been a while since that happened, too. Many guys and Rebecca were enjoying the peace while it lasted and it also gave the men many chances to misbehave. The number of men coming into the aid station with bar fight injuries and obvious cases of syphilis along with other venereal diseases was rapidly climbing. All the downtime gave the men too much time on their hands.

"That's the third case of syph this week, Dick," Rebecca huffed placing a report on Dick's desk in his quarters. Dick opened up the envelope, read its contents, and pinched the bridge of his nose sighing. Rebecca had always come to Dick with reports on the health status of the men and lately, hearing the words contusion, dislocated, broken, and infected had become frequent in her weekly reports.

"What do you suggest, Becca?" Dick asked.

"I suggest a mission and quick," she laughed. Suddenly, though, she became serious. "There's no way in hell we can stop these men from fraternizing, but the least they could do is practice safely. Venereal diseases are no joke."

Dick looked up and eyed Rebecca curiously.

"Oh, no. No, no, no," Rebecca stammered. "I am a nurse and a soldier, not a high school sex-ed teacher. These are grown men, Dick! I am not giving them the talk. Not in this lifetime," Rebecca sputtered, her face quickly as getting red.

Dick noticed her reddening face and began to laugh.

"It's all right, Becca. I'll get someone else, preferably a man." Dick laughed.

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Suddenly, there was nothing to talk about and the two were in the room alone in an awkward silence.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "'I'm gonna head back to the station and see if anyone else needs a shot of penicillin," she joked. Right as Rebecca's hand was clasped around the doorknob Dick spoke.

"Rebecca, before you go I'm heading to town for lunch. Would you like to join me?" Dick interjected.

Rebecca turned and faced Dick. "Yeah, that sounds great," she replied with a smile. It had been a while since the two had any time together now with them both being higher ranking officers.

"It's a small shop that serves food," Dick stated. Rebecca nodded and walked out the door.

XXX

Rebecca was in the aid station glancing up at the clock, desperately waiting for noon to hit. Every few minutes she would glance at her watch, to the wall clock, and back at her watch. Roe looked up from his clipboard.

"What'cha got a hot date or something?" he asked with a smirk.

Rebecca looked up at Roe. "No, I'm going out with Captain Winters for lunch."

Roe's grin became wider as Rebecca continued to glance at the clock. She caught his grin and looked at him completely unimpressed.

"Roe, stop it. We're friends," she said.

"I didn't say anything," Roe quipped.

"No, but you're looking at me. Stop looking at me like that. We hardly get to see each other anymore and-."

Roe suddenly interjected in her rambling. "Captain, relax. I'm just kidding." Roe laughed.

He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was ten of twelve. "You better get going."

Rebecca followed his gaze and began packing up her stuff. "I'll be back soon. You good here?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Roe said.

Rebecca gave Roe a smile. "Thank you," she said before leaving.

XXX

It didn't take long for Rebecca to find the shop Dick was talking about. It was practically right outside the base. The storefront was made with brick like most of the buildings in Aldbourne except it was well kept and had beautiful vines growing all along the side of it. The front had a large glass window revealing into the shop that was decorated with signs saying The best butties in England and advertisements for their meats and other goods.

As Rebecca got closer to the building, the smell of fresh food tantalized her senses. There were a few table and chairs set up outside, and seeing Dick at none of them prompted her to go inside. When she stepped inside the ring of a bell signifying her entrance and made the man behind the counter look up.

"Take a seat where you'd like, love," a host greeted. Rebecca nodded her head in response and glanced around the deli for Dick. When she saw the only American uniform cap stick up from a booth she made her way over.

Dick was sitting in a booth reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee. When he heard the familiar sound of Rebecca's dress heels on the old wooden floor, he looked up from his paper.

"Hey, you made it," Dick began. Rebecca sat down in the wooden booth opposite to Dick, taking her purse and placing it next to her.

"Yeah, this place was pretty easy to find," she smiled. The two sat looking at each other before Dick started talking.

"Nix recommended this place. He said they had some pretty good sandwiches so I figured we should give it a try."

"I guess his taste doesn't solely lie in booze," Rebecca chuckled.

"I wonder if they have shaved steak sandwiches," Dick wondered. Rebecca laughed to herself.

"I don't think they have them here. It seems more of a United States thing." Rebecca sighed.

"That's too bad," Dick replied.

Rebecca looked outside of the store's window for a moment, watching the people walking down the street, doing normal people things, shopping, talking, and the like. It was so funny to Rebecca how not so long ago she was one of those people. War really put things into perspective. She looked back to Dick only to catch him staring at her. She didn't know to what he was staring at, but it seemed as if he was trying to read her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, you looked like you were deep in thought," he answered.

"I was just people watching. It's so weird to see a place untouched by this nightmare when not too long ago we were living in a literal hell. Just surreal, I guess."

"You got that right," Dick sighed. "Let's go up and order, I'm starving."

The two made their way up to the front counter. Dick ordered first then Rebecca, and surprisingly enough he paid for the whole meal even after Rebecca insisted.

She took a bite of her sandwich and was met with the delightful taste of fresh cut meat and bread.

"Oh my God!" was all she managed to get out as she gushed at the delicious flavor of her sub. She popped a chip in her mouth, appreciating the familiar flavor. After eating the army's food for such a long time and the wretched K-rations, this was like pure ecstasy for the tongue.

Rebecca hand Dick spent their lunch hour having great conversation, laughing and talking about what they had been up to and such. When they ran out of things to talk about, the silence between them wasn't awkward; it was actually comfortable. The two had become great friends and they didn't need conversation all the time, but sometimes it didn't feel like just friends. Rebecca pushed down that feeling, quickly.

Once they had finished their meals, Rebecca was surprised to see how quickly time had flown by when she looked at her watch.

"We should get going. I can't leave Roe at the aid station all by himself on the weekend," she said.

"Yeah, Nix will probably think we ran off and aren't coming back," Dick chuckled.

Rebecca grabbed her purse and put it on her shoulder as Dick began clearing away the basket their meals came in along with the bottles of soda. The two made their way out the door of the deli after Dick threw away the trash. Rebecca smiled when he moved to open the door for her and she could have sworn this was almost a date.

They were halfway back to the aid station when Rebecca spoke up.

"Hey, Dick? Any particular reason why you asked me out on a date?" Dick stopped and turned to face her.

"This wasn't a date, Becca," he answered quickly his face getting a little red. Rebecca smiled when she noticed his flustered expression.

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering since it was just us and you paid and held the door open for me. And now you're walking me back to the aid station," she challenged.

The two made it to the front of the aid station.

"We just went out lunch, Becca. We've both been so busy, I thought you would want to grab something to eat" Dick replied.

"So, it wasn't a date," she asked again.

"No."

"Okay," she replied bashfully, her face turning red, consequently. "I figured that."

"Right." Dick clarified.

"Right," she repeated. "I-I I'm gonna get going now," she said. "And thank you, Dick. I had a really good time." Rebecca quickly leaned in to kiss his cheek and then she hustled back into the aid station. Closing the door behind her, Rebecca leaned up against it with her head looking up towards the ceiling, sighing.

That was disgustingly awkward.

Rebecca didn't expect Roe standing there with his eyebrow raised as he held a clipboard in his hands, jotting down notes.

"What?"

"Nothing," Roe laughed with his hands up in a mock surrender.

XXX

It had been a month and still, questions of the next jump were buzzing around Aldbourne. All the D-Day veterans could have cared less and the thought of going back into combat for most seemed like a giant obstacle that was waiting to be conquered. The veterans knew what it was like to go into combat fearing for their lives, or not having decent food or a shower, or worst of all; seeing their buddies torn up in front of them. That being said many veterans were not looking forward to another jump.

Replacements, on the other hand, were getting antsy and in order to squash their eagerness, officers had numerous combat exercises, classroom lessons, and practice jumps lined up for them all.

For all of the men–most of them anyways–spending time at the local pub was a good way to take their minds off their worries about moving out again. For replacements, it was a good way to get to know the vets and take their minds of their eagerness to jump.

Rebecca never particularly cared to spend her weekends in that cumbersome old pub like most of her pals did. She didn't drink so she never found the point in going. However, one evening for some reason Buck had managed to coerce her into going out that night.

With that in mind, she got dressed up her dress greens – skirt in all – and headed out for the bar.

Rebecca quickly left her room and began the walk to the pub.

It was early evening, around six o'clock and the only noises that could be heard were the sound of her dress heels clicking on the pavement and the crickets that made an appearance at night.

Rebecca sauntered down the streets and took in a deep breath of the cool evening air. Aldbourne was a beautiful place and she was going to miss it. Who knew how long they had left to be here?

Finally, she arrived at the small pub and was immediately assaulted with the heavy scent of smoke and booze as she opened the door. The pub was a decent size and was filled with mostly Airborne guys but also some townspeople. It was a befitting atmosphere for the town of Aldbourne.

Rebecca stood in the doorway unsure of what to do with herself now that she was here. Someone, however, did as Buck Compton approached her with one of his award winning smiles.

"Hey, Becca," He beamed, "You made it!"

The one thing Rebecca loved about Buck was his genuine personality and his heartwarming smiles.

"Yeah, you managed to harass me enough to get me out," Rebecca admitted.

Buck swung an arm around her shoulders and lead her towards where he, Luz, Toye, Babe, Bull, and Guarnere were settled in. It looked like they were all playing a game of darts, and from what Rebecca could tell, Buck and Luz – who were a team – were losing.

"Hey, Becca I didn't expect to see you here tonight!" Luz exclaimed.

Suddenly the group made their way over to her, welcoming her.

While Buck, Luz, Babe, and Toye played darts, Bill and Rebecca stood and watched until he stuck up a conversation.

"So, where the fuck you been anyways? It's like we never see you around here unless it's for training or class." Guarnere pointed out.

"I haven't meant to isolate myself from you guys, I've just been busy. Being a captain isn't all it's cracked up to be I guess." Rebecca jested.

"Ah, it never is." Bill joked along with her.

Silence befell the two as they watched the dart game.

"All right, now, Lieutenant, nice and easy. We've still got a shot." Luz offered.

It was unlike Buck to lose at darts. Rebecca thought. He never loses at any game.

Buck then hummed the dart completely missing the board causing Luz to yell out.

"Tough break, you're having a tough night. People have tough nights." Luz concluded, trying to console his friend.

"I'm sorry, George," Buck spoke in a disappointed manner.

"It's all right," George reassured.

If Rebecca knew one thing, Buck never lost, and Luz never took losing well. The two were up to something, and she knew down to the very way they acted. She smiled at them trying to guess their strategy.

What are they up to? Rebecca wondered.

"Nice shot sir." Bull complemented even though he knew it was an awful throw.

Bull and Rebecca had an odd relationship. The two rarely spoke but for some reason, she always felt even at Toccoa that she had his respect. Bull was unceasingly polite to Rebecca whenever the two did talk, and he was a very smart man and a great leader.

"Thank you, Bull," Buck said handing the dart to Babe.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Babe said, and receiving a quick shoulder massage from Toye to help him focus.

"Finish me up," Buck responded.

Rebecca and Bill were patiently waiting to see how it would unfold until Bill jumped up and got himself involved in the game. Rebecca soon followed after him to get in on the action.

"What does he need?" He asked.

"Double seven," Babe answered.

With that Babe eighty-sixed the dart, finishing up the game with a win. The surrounding spectators and the winners of the game all bellowed and hollered at such a crushing defeat of their proud lieutenant.

"You're embarrassing the Lieutenant, here," Bill mock scolded Babe, "Have a drink."

Bill handed over a drink to the young replacement which he greatly accepted.

"Oh, don't mind if I do, Sarge."

"Better start winning money soon, I think your buddies are starting to miss ya." Bill pointed out.

Rebecca looked over to Babe's table and noticed the in-depth conversation the three were having.

"Yeah, they do look kinda sad, don't they?" Babe laughed.

"They're just serious fighting men, that's all," Bull added.

"Well, I think I'm gonna introduce myself." Bill broke in.

"I'll come too," Rebecca stated.

She had never really gotten to know Hashey, Miller, and Garcia, but they seemed pretty decent from what Rebecca could tell. They seemed to be a few of the many who actually didn't fit the standard replacement profile.

"Careful what you say now. Don't take much to set my guys off."

This statement made Bill chuckle. Those boys looked as fragile as flowers.

"Yeah, and you got some wild-eyed killers right there, Bull." Martin joked.

Rebecca chuckled to herself.

Across the way, Rebecca heard Buck and Luz make a gamble with Babe and Toye.

She smiled to herself knowing that this was their plan all along.

"First one to hit the bull's eye?" Buck asked innocently.

"Yeah, one shot," Babe confirmed.

Luz and Buck huddled together whispering about what the prize should be for the winners.

"Yeah make it two?" Luz asked.

"Two pack, two packs," Buck repeated.

Whoever won would win two packs of smokes each. That was worth its weight in gold around here.

"All right, two packs, here we go, one shot, very good," Buck said nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Rebecca was pulled away from her eavesdropping when Bill began dragging her over to the table where Babe's friends were sitting at. He schlepped a chair over to the table and motioned for Rebecca to sit down.

"Hey, fellas. What do ya hear? What do you say?" Bill began.

All three men looked up from their conversation and glanced nervously at Bill.

"Uh, actually that's Babe's seat, Private Heffron's," Hashey stated.

At that moment Rebecca began to tune out the conversation at her table when she heard Bill say he "didn't care if it was fucking Eisenhower's". She didn't need to hear Bill bully them. Instead, she focused on the interesting dart game across the way.

She watched Buck grab a dart, but then Luz stopped him.

"Lieutenant, are you gonna shoot lefty all night?" Luz asked.

"Hey c'mon," Toye grumbled.

"Just curious 'cause he's right-handed."

"George, what would I do without, George Luz?"

Buck aimed and on release, got it right on the bull's eye.

"Boop, ooh!" Luz exclaimed

"Goodness gracious!"

"Two packs gentlemen." Luz and Buck motioned with their hands.

Realizing they had both been swindled, Babe and Toye gave them both the evil eye but gave them smokes.

 _Knew it_. Rebecca thought smiling to herself.

Her attention was drawn away from the game when Bill mentioned Babe's story about Dorris.

"So, Heffron tell you about Dorris yet?" Bill asked.

"No," Hashey answered.

"No?" Bill confirmed. "Well, then I'm gonna educate you."

Bill began his story. Rebecca vaguely listened and as the story carried on she lost interest and made her way to the bar to buy a drink.

She elbowed past people and finally made it to the bar.

"Hey, Becca." Buck began. "What can I get for you?"

"Aw, buyin' me a drink now, are ya?" Rebecca chuckled.

"Yeah, it's customary from where I come from to buy a pretty girl a drink," Buck explained, smiling at her.

Rebecca rolled her eyes at him, only making his smile wider.

"I'll take a club soda," Rebecca said.

The bartender gave her the soda in a big mug they used for beer and she watched as Buck fished out some coins for the drink.

"I'm going back to my table. Thanks for the drink." Rebecca thanked.

As she made her way back to the table she noticed the uncomfortable silence.

 _Jesus, what did they say?_ Rebecca wondered.

"You new boys, you pay attention to Sergeant Randleman. Got that? That's the smartest man in the company."

Right as Rebecca was sitting down, Bill got up leaving her all alone with the new guys.

"Hey, boys. How ya doing tonight?" She began.

Right before any of them could answer, a drunken Cobb made his way over to the table and bumped into Miller.

Cobb was an ass when he wasn't drunk, but under the influence of alcohol made him a mean son of a bitch.

Miller looked over his shoulder to face Cobb.

"Where'd you get that?" He provoked, pointing to the Distinguished Unit Citation on his jacket.

"Cobb, knock it off," Rebecca said, knowing where this was going.

The conversation went on like she wasn't even there.

"It's a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation. For, uh what the regiment did in Normandy." Miller explained.

"That's right, for what the regiment did. You weren't there." Cobb shot.

Hoobler, who must have been listening in, came up to Cobb.

"Hey, hey, ease up Cobb. It's a unit citation." Hoobler defended.

Rebecca glanced at Miller, then at Cobb, then to Hoob, Garcia, Hashey, and Bull to see all their individual reactions.

Cobb stared down at Miller like he was trash. Then Miller carefully took off his pin, placed it gently on the table, and left.

Cobb looked quite pleased with himself.

Bull went in a retrieved the pin. "Shit, Cobb, you didn't fight in Normandy, neither."

Bull walked away.

Suddenly being on the other side of the joke, Cobb went to defend himself.

"I got hit in the plane before I got a chance to jump."

Rebecca was pissed and uncharacteristically lashed out at Cobb.

"Cobb, do us all a favor, get out of here and sober up." Rebecca spat.

He looked down at Rebecca, a little shocked, but quickly left.

"Sorry about him. He's an ass to everyone." Rebecca explained.

Garcia and Hashey looked at her sincerely.

"Hashey and Garcia right?" Rebecca asked.

"How do you know us, ma'am?" Hashey asked.

"Oh, I read everyone's files when I'm bored in the aid station. Plus I see you guys in class all time." Rebecca smiled.

"Hey, Y'all, listen up," Smokey yelled, jumping up on a chair, interrupting Rebecca's attempt at conversation again.

"I got us an announcement to make. This here is Carwood Lipton."

Smokey grabbed Lip and pulled him over to where he was standing, to introduce him. Lip looked very bashful as he was dragged by the shoulder and in front of the crowd.

"He's already married, Smokey!" Malarkey yelled from across the room.

Laughter was heard from around the pub.

"This here is Carwood Lipton, the new Easy Company 1st sergeant," Smokey started again.

Cheering and applause erupted throughout the room. No one deserved to be the First Sergeant more than Lip.

"As befitting this position, he says he has to make an announcement."

Lipton cleared his throat and stepped forward.

Not a good announcement. Rebecca guessed.

"Well, hate to break the mood here, boys, but we're moving out again."

Lipton walked off and an eerie quiet befell the room. This was it, they would be going back. And it looked like for good now.

Many men began to file out but some stayed to finish their drinks.

"Man, they sure know how to ruin a good night," Rebecca mumbled.

She looked up from her drink. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you boys."

"Goodnight, ma'am," Hashey said.

Rebecca got up from her place at the table and made her way back to her quarters.

Her trip back was quiet except for some small chatter from men who were on their way back to base too.

They all had gotten used to the sense of security of being away from the war, and now it was over. It made her feel weak. Rebecca took in a deep breath of Aldbourne's crisp air and admired the stars above her, taking in all the beauty around her. She suddenly knew her days of peace in Aldbourne were numbered.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed. More chapters will be on their way, hopefully. Please let know if you liked the update!


	18. Chapter 18 - Moving Out

Last Time: Easy learns they will be moving out from England; Rebecca wants to spend as much time in civilization as she can.

"Until you have real compassion, you cannot recognize love." - Bob Thurman

Now: Easy Company and Rebecca learn of their new mission.

* * *

 **Chapter** **18 - Moving Out**

With the realization that Easy's time in Aldbourne was coming to a close, Rebecca decided to take advantage of any free time she may have had and spend it with Dick and Lewis.

The three were practically inseparable at Toccoa, but now that they were actually in combat, having different ranks and duties restricted the time they spent with one another. Dick was the company CO, Lewis was always discussing intelligence with command, and Rebecca was stretched at all fours being tasked with the health of the men on and off the field.

Understanding that they would be moving out again prompted the three to have an "original officers of Toccoa", plus Harry, get-together before their jump. The four all decided to meet at the local pub, coincidentally the same one that the men of Easy usually spent most of their free time at.

The two drinkers of the four, Harry and Lewis, sat next to each other at the bar, desperately trying to intoxicate themselves one last time, while Rebecca and Dick, the two who abstained from the bottled heat, sat at a table in conversation.

"...All I'm saying is that the men don't treat me like a Captain. They don't say half the stuff to you that they say to me. At this point I feel like more like an enlisted man than a ranking officer," Rebecca said with a sigh.

As of late, she had become more bothered by the unprofessional attitudes the enlisted men had taken with her. Oftentimes, if anyone had a problem - be it one pertaining to their duties or not - they went to her. If such interactions were between friends then it might've been acceptable, but this was different; between an officer and an enlistee was wide of the mark.

Unfortunately, Dick didn't really seem to understand this.

"Becca, you should be proud that the men are able to be so open with you," he told her around the lip of his mug. "Just as long as they're not blatantly undermining your authority, I think you're doing just fine."

He paused, gave Rebecca a good, long look. "I know being an officer is a huge responsibility, but you're doing a fine job. You care for the men and they clearly care for you. They also listen and look up to you. That's something I wish I had in my men."

"Yeah, but just the other day they were trying to protect me from some wise-ass replacements like I was some fragile little girl. We both know that I'm far from fragile."

Dick took in a deep breath. "I think you're overreacting."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Dick's lack of empathy. _Overreacting? Pah._ _If you were in my position,_ she thought _, then this would_ _be a completely different story._

"I think you're also judging their behavior based on how they act when they aren't getting shot at. See what they're like in combat, then judge."

Rebecca held her chin with one hand and had the other around her glass, pondering.

"I'm pretty sure if you tell them to jump they'll ask how high," Dick added with a partial smile on his face.

Before Rebecca could get another complaint in, a rather drunk Nixon and Harry stumbled over to their table.

"C'mon you two," Harry slurred, gesturing for them to get up. "It's our last few moments of civilization and you're both here drinking sodas and talking like a bunch of schoolgirls."

Rebecca and Dick couldn't help but laugh at the sloshed state their comrade was in.

"Yeah, Becca, C'mon, have yourself some good ole Vat 69," Nixon burbled, trying to hand the bottle to Rebecca.

"No thanks, Nix," Rebecca said, pushing the bottle away. "I think we've had enough of your version of civilization for one night." She stood, pushed in her chair, and headed to the bar's exit.

"Aw, you two are a bunch of old ladies!"

Rebecca and Dick both ignored the comment as they walked out the door and back to their billets.

She snorted. "They'll be sorry tomorrow when they have to wake up early for the briefing."

"Yeah, they will."

As the two continued walking in silence, Rebecca felt a pang of dread hit her as she thought of the briefing tomorrow - the same one that would effectively end their stay in England.

"Do you know what the gist of the meeting is tomorrow, so maybe I could play hooky?" she joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little.

"Yeah, I do. Nothing that I can tell you though."

"Oh, I see how it is."

Dick smirked. "Yeah, that's how it is, and you know it too."

Rebecca turned her gaze to the ground beneath her feet. _It's nice to have this again,_ she thought with a small smile.

They then arrived at their billets, and bid each other farewell and goodnight.

XXX

The next morning arrived quickly. Soon enough, Easy Company was gathered in a large green tent where the officers like Nixon and Dick were briefing the men on the latest mission. Rebecca stood with the other officers at the front of the room paying attention but also watching her men curiously. As he was the company CO, Dick was the first to begin explaining. He was pointing toward a map of the area that was being taken and was distinctly labeled in big black bold letters: OPERATION MARKET GARDEN.

"As you can see, this is called Operation Market Garden," he began. "In terms of Airborne Divisions involved, this one's even bigger than Normandy."

Buck and Rebecca glanced at each other as Dick went over the mission objective. It couldn't possibly be as large scale as Normandy, and judging by the look that Buck and Rebecca exchanged, they both knew it too.

"We're dropping deep into occupied Holland. The Allied objective is to take this road here, between Eindhoven and Arnhem, so that two British Armoured Divisions can move up in toward Arnhem."

As Dick continued his briefing, Rebecca couldn't help but notice the faces of all the men. They all seemed to be sharing the same look of dread as her. Even the replacements, who were always so eager to go into combat and prove themselves, looked nervous.

"...Our job is to liberate Eindhoven - stay there, wait for the tanks..."

Rebecca was pulled out of her thoughts as Dick continued. She needed to pay attention and knew that Dick hated when people zoned out during briefings. She didn't want to agitate him more than he already was.

When he finished, he gave the floor over to Nixon - who, surprisingly enough, didn't seem the least bit bothered by the previous night's festivities.

"The entire European advance has been put on hold to allocate resources for this operation. It's Montgomery's personal plan and we'll be under British command."

Rebecca chuckled to herself when groans circled around the tent. Clearly, they weren't too pleased about being under British command. Their hatred towards the notion, however, wasn't completely unjustified.

The British were well-known strategists, but when it came time to actually lead their men into battle, they often fell short. The disdain the men felt for them came from the undeniable fact that while under their command, the British had no problem in leading American men into slaughter or letting them do all the heavy lifting.

"The good news is, if this works, these tanks will be over the Rhine and into Germany. It could end the war and get us home by Christmas."

It took all of Rebecca's strength not to snort out loud. She was definitely calling bullshit on that, and she told Buck so, who laughed silently.

Apparently, this statement also evoked some groans and comments of doubt that weren't exclusive to Rebecca and Buck. The thought of being home by Christmas was a notion used during the first world war as a morale boost, and everyone knew how that panned out.

"...It'll be a day-time jump. Intelligence doesn't expect much opposition. They think the Krauts in Holland are mostly kids and old men and we should take 'em by surprise."

As much as Rebecca wanted to believe the "home by Christmas" vitriol and additional perks this mission seemed to offer, it just seemed too good to be true. If this mission was bigger than D-Day, it would mean a lot more fighting and unexpected surprises. It seemed almost sinful to compare the bonuses that seemed to be going along with Market Garden with the large scale and scrappy nature of Normandy.

"In any case, say goodbye to England. I don't think they're calling this one off."

This made it much more imperative for Rebecca to enjoy whatever commodities England had left to offer her. That included stockpiling extra feminine needs that were never distributed on supply runs, taking one last shower, enjoying some hot grub, and writing to Michelle and her father, which she had neglected to do since their first drop.

Rebecca's mind was distracted as it raced with last-minute tasks she wanted to accomplish before their permanent departure from England. _Good god, what a mess._

XXX

Easy Company made it to Upottery where they spent their time in green pup tents. It was almost like D-Day, except the warm weather that came with June was replaced with the raw cold and rain of September.

Most of the men were playing cards, drinking, or shooting the shit, but Rebecca was holed up in her tent, catching up on the writing she had neglected for the longest time now. She had been receiving frequent letters from Michelle, mentioning she was in France and working in a hospital that housed all the men that were injured on the front lines. She wrote about getting promoted to First Lieutenant and all the officers she deemed cute she met while in France. Reading about all of Michelle's adventures and experiences in France made her absence that much more painful for Rebecca.

Now that she had time to kill before their jump, though, she suddenly found herself without an excuse to write Michelle back. So, she picked up a pen and a sheet of paper, and began to write.

 _Dear Michelle,_

 _Please, forgive me for not writing in so long! My first month in Normandy left me no time to as I was constantly in combat and patching up my men. You should know that I have been promoted to Captain. As much as I should be celebrating this promotion, the heat of combat and the lunacy my company has been subjected to has left me in a constant blur. As often as I wish you were here so I could tell you about all my adventures and all my comrades, I find myself glad that_ _you're not. Combat can truly paralyze to the soul. I've never questioned the value of one life over another, until now. The atrocities men can do to each other is unspeakable. I have lost so many good soldiers already. Don't you worry about me, however; I have found good company in many of the men in my unit. I miss you very much and I hope we can see each other soon! If there's anything I want more in the world right now, it's_ _for this God awful war to end so I can see you soon. Best of luck!_

 _Love,_

 _Becca_

She folded the letter and stuffed it into an envelope, addressing it to the return that was on the letter. She looked at the stack of letters from her father, John, and debated reading them, perhaps even writing him back. Rebecca always told herself she would, but she sometimes didn't want to know what was going on in her father's life.

He could be over the eight making his liver worse. Or he could be dead, and those where issues Rebecca couldn't bring herself to read about.

She glanced over at the letters again and picked them up. Rebecca felt them in her hand and dragged her fingers along her father's scribbled writing. She took the oldest letter and put the rest down on her rack.

Taking a deep breath, Rebecca slowly began tearing the seal of the envelope. When it was open, she took out the piece of paper and braced herself for its contents.

 _Dear Rebecca,_

 _I hope you are well and that_ _this letter finds you okay. You should know how proud I am of you. I know your decision to join the Airborne was because of my problem, but that doesn't make it any less honorable. Recently, I've quit drinking and John has moved in with me to help pay for bills. I have also managed to find a job at the local hardware store to occupy myself from alcohol._

 _I went to Dr. De Luca last week and he told me that because of_ _the money you have been sending home, I am able to pay for the medicine. I am so glad to be receiving this second chance, but I also feel like I have failed you in so many ways. The things I put you through are unforgivable by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, you are selfless in your sacrifice to me and to_ _your country. You still managed to make yourself into a remarkable young woman and you did that all by yourself. Your mother would be incredibly proud of you. I love you very much._

 _Love,_

 _Daddy_

Rebecca folded the letter and placed it beside her on the bed. Reflexively, she put her hand to her heart, clenching her shirt because the overabundance of emotion was just too much. She felt sorrow, happiness, and anger all at once, making it seem like her heart was going to explode.

It had taken years and her father finally stopped drinking. All the misery and suffering the alcohol had put her family through for so many years was finally over.

One by one, she opened the letters that remained from her father and John. Rebecca was pleasantly surprised to find out from John that her father hadn't had one drop of liquor since he quit, and that he had been genuinely trying to turn his life around. He had kept the same job, was taking care of the house, and was even meeting with Alcoholics Anonymous.

Reading all the wonderful news made Rebecca long for the war to be over so she could repair her relationship with her father.

 _I can't believe it,_ she thought. _I have my dad back._

With a still-growing grin spreading across her face, Rebecca quickly took out a piece of paper and began jotting down down her response to her father.

XXX

The day of the jump greeted Rebecca and Easy Company with a stunning blue sky uncustomary to England, littered with puffy white clouds.

The airfield was swarmed with Airborne men strapping on their equipment, packing ammo and supplies, and helping each other pile on the enormous amounts of gear.

Rebecca was with Dick and Lewis, getting her gear strapped on with Lewis' help.

"How do I look?" she asked him once he'd finished, jostling her gear around in an attempt to stay balanced.

"Like you're gonna keel over," he laughed, slapping her playfully on the back.

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she carefully bent down and pulled a pistol out from her med bag. Lewis and Dick eyed her as she did so.

"Since when do medics pack heat?"

"Since this medic almost died because she was alone and unarmed," Rebecca retorted as she pointed a thumb towards herself. She loaded the magazine of the pistol, cocked it, and examined the bullet chambered in the top. "I had Toye snag me one from the weapons depot."

Lewis' eyebrows furrowed. "You do know you're technically not allowed to carry arms as a medic, right?"

"And you're technically not supposed to carry hooch into combat, but I won't tell if you won't."

"She's got you there, Nix," Dick chuckled.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "If the interrogation is over, I'm gonna check on the men."

She began heading over to where she saw familiar faces. The first face she met was Malarkey's; surprisingly, a frown accompanied his usual cheery Irish face.

As she made her way over to him, she quickly mirrored his unpleasantness. A Jeep was heading their way, and sure enough, sitting in the passenger seat was none other than Sobel, the man who made her life a living hell for two years. Judging from the truck groaning with supplies that were tailing his Jeep, he must've been here to drop them off.

When he hopped out of his seat, he quickly caught Malarkey eyeing the motorcycle he and More had taken on a joyride. He immediately reamed Malarkey for commandeering it and reminded him that it was "United States Army property"; when he'd finished with that, he turned his attention to Rebecca.

"Captain Clark," Sobel said, saluting.

"Yes, sir?"

"I need you to sign off on these supplies." He then handed over a clipboard with the list of materials attached and stepped off to the side to wait.

Sobel was acting polite for a change. It was strange. Normally, the well-disliked Captain had an attitude of complete disdain when referring to the lone female in the company.

He never hesitated to make Rebecca feel like she didn't belong, but today it seemed different. Rebecca, however, wasn't fooled by his courteous behavior for one second. It wasn't like Sobel to all of the sudden express some newfound respect for any of the members of the company, especially her.

She gave it a quick once-over, making sure everything was in order, then handed it back to Sobel.

"I see you've managed to slither your way to a promotion, Clark."

Ah, there it was. There was the condescension that seemed to be missing from before. Rebecca had had it with Sobel and his bullshit, and since they were technically the same rank, she could verbally show him just how much she'd had it.

"I earned this promotion by protecting my men on D-Day. I'm afraid I can't say the same thing about you."

Sobel's face dropped at her witty retort. It was completely unfamiliar to see Sobel's face with such a reaction.

Before he could reply, Rebecca cast the clipboard at Sobel's chest, quickly turned on her heels making her way back to where Dick was and continued to prepare for the jump, smug pride filling her to the brim.

XXX

Rebecca and the rest of Easy Company were completely taken aback at how smoothly the jump went. The weather was textbook perfect for jumping, and there was no artillery or resistance of any kind. They all descended from the sky and stripped away their jumping gear almost effortlessly. The only resistance they faced was trying to get off the QRF on their harnesses. Dare anyone say it, but it was a perfect jump.

The men and Rebecca began to move from the DZ to a road with a culvert that made for perfect cover. They would use that culvert to move towards Eindhoven.

After waiting for a little while with First Platoon, Lieutenant Peacock informed Bull and Rebecca that there was some kind of hold up, and they would be traveling through the field up ahead.

Easy Company walked through the field with grass that rose to their waists. For once, it was quiet; the only thing that could be heard were the bugs, the birds chirping in the air, and the sound of Easy moving through the tall stalks.

Eventually, they made it to the outskirts of a town and the hold signal was given as two replacements ran for cover. Rebecca and most of First Platoon crouched over by a wooden fence. However, the enemy from which they were hiding wasn't one at all. Out of the second story window of a nearby building, a middle-aged woman tied a bright orange cloth to the frame.

The all-clear was called and the soldiers continued on. As they journeyed towards the town, it morphed more and more in a parade rather than the living environment it actually was. Civilians crowded the streets, singing their national anthem, waving their flags, and practically attacking the American soldiers with kisses and hugs of joy and gratitude.

It soon became harder and harder to stick together as more women approached men to show their appreciation. Within minutes, Easy Company was completely dispersed. Some were taking photos with children, some were eating local food, and others were quenching their deep seeded thirst of loneliness by fraternizing with the local women.

Rebecca, meanwhile, tried her hardest not to succumb to the barrage of affection that was hurtling itself towards her. Unfortunately, every now and then, a civilian would pull her in for an oxygen restricting hug or a kiss. The citizens didn't seem to mind she was a woman or were too happy to notice. However, the very few who did recognize her as a female gave her a stare until she pointed towards her medic badge; that made the concerned stares turn into acceptance.

She quickly spotted Dick, Nixon, and Welsh in the crowd, and made a beeline for the two. By the time she arrived, Dick was looking through his binoculars, searching for signs of enemy activity.

"Good to see you guys," Rebecca said cheerfully.

Nixon nodded in agreement before turning to Dick. "Clocks ticking," he said, glancing to a nearby clock tower.

"Yeah," Winters replied as he continued scoping the area with his binoculars. Seeing nothing, though, he lowered them and made to stow them.

As soon as he'd put them away, any and all women in the vicinity descended upon him and began to attack his face with kisses. Nixon, of course, wasn't forgotten; ladies left and right were throwing themselves at him, as well.

The two of them, rather than engage in fraternization like their men were, tried to ward the women off with "thank yous" in their native tongue, but to no avail. Rebecca looked at the faces of the two bewildered captains and burst out laughing. It was hilarious to see the two normally composed officers completely disheveled.

"Don't think I'm gonna throw myself at you and start kissing you too," Rebecca snickered.

Welsh laughed and the two desperately tried to wipe off the lipstick that stained their faces.

Buck, meanwhile, made his way over to the group with a woman on his arm, obviously thrilled by the female attention.

"What's up Welshy?" he asked.

The reply was quick and to the point. "Snipers."

Rebecca quickly did an overview of the town's rooftops but was met with nothing of the sort. Being a higher ranking officer put targets on all their heads, so it was better to be extra cautious.

"We've gotta get to these bridges," Dick murmured.

The group of officers began to make their way to the center of the town, elbowing and shoving citizens to get through, when suddenly two men pushing along a screaming woman by the arms nearly knocked Rebecca to the ground. Luckily, Dick caught her before she had the chance to fall.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rebecca said with a nod. "What the hell was that?"

Dick only shrugged his shoulders and continued to move through the congested town.

As the group moved closer to the center of town, joyful celebration slowly transitioned into a ring of persecution, betraying the jubilance the rest of the town was experiencing. A select few Dutch women had been forced onto their knees, stripped down to their undergarments, and had their hair cut right to the scalp. The woman in pink who had nearly knocked Rebecca over was ripped out of her dress, screaming and crying, while the woman above her coldly, mercilessly sheared her hair. Some of the other women's scalps were bleeding from being recklessly cut, while others had swastikas painted on their foreheads as they were being hauled out from the circle and exiled from town.

Most were screaming, crying, and begging for mercy as they were being tossed about and humiliated. The remaining few simply knelt there, enduring their punishment in silence, their faces blank and hollow-like. The people circling them were chanting and screaming "whores", "traitors", and spitting on them.

Rebecca watched in horror. Without question, she swung her med bag around from her back and began to elbow her way into the circle. Before she had a chance to get there, she was stopped by Dick.

"Becca, don't."

Rebecca turned to face Dick with a tortured look.

"We have to keep moving," he said quietly. It wasn't that hard to tell from the way he sounded when he spoke that he was just as disturbed by the scene before him as she was.

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily, swinging her bag back over her shoulder.

She watched as the women were being publicly shamed and the same woman in pink made eye contact with her. Recognizing Rebecca as a woman, she cried out to her and raised her arms out asking for help.

Rebecca turned away, ashamed of her inadequacy to help. _What could they have possibly done to deserve this?_ She thought. _NO ONE deserves this humiliation._

"What did they do?" Welsh asked, almost reading Rebecca's mind.

An unexpected reply came from behind them, Jan van Kooijk of the Dutch resistance answered.

"They slept with the Germans," Van Kooijk answered casually as if the brutal treatment was normal.

His eyes scanned over the group of officers and made contact with Rebecca, almost like he could sense her defiance to the situation.

"They are lucky. The men who collaborated are being shot."

 _Oh_ , that pissed her off.

She stalked up to him, invading his personal space, and jabbed a finger into his chest.

"You call that lucky?" she hissed. "I call that barbaric!"

Before she could further bitch Van Kooijk out, Nixon placed both hands on Rebecca's shoulders, trying to drag her away from him.

"Easy there, tiger, he's a friend of ours," Nixon murmured. Rebecca shoved his hands from her shoulders in defiance. "Mr. Van Kooijk here is with the Dutch resistance."

Rebecca only shoved his hands away in defiance. To hell with who he was. All that mattered to her was that he was allowing those poor women to suffer; as far as she was concerned, the man was a bastard, and nothing but.

While she seethed, the men conversed amongst themselves.

"We have been waiting and hoping for this day for almost five years," Van Kooijk began.

As much as she currently despised the man, Rebecca couldn't help the little twinge of pity she felt when he mentioned that. Living under the oppression of the Germans must have been awful; she certainly wouldn't have blamed anyone for trying to ease its severity in any way possible, even if that meant sleeping with the enemy. Perhaps that's why she disliked Van Kooijk so much. She watched him with a close eye as he talked with Nixon and Dick.

"...Says he can help us secure the bridges here…"

"Yes." Van Kooijk began walking the group away from the shameful scene. "Together, we can push the remaining Germans out of Eindhoven. And that's just the beginning."

Rebecca stayed put as Dick and the others walked off to the sidewalk. She watched as the poor women continued to be submitted to their cruel punishment. Sadness and anger washed over her in a great tidal wave. Watching it unfold was poisonous to her spirit. The shame circle was the one dark spot on an almost gleeful event.

She snapped back to reality after a moment and quickly scanned the crowd for Dick and Nixon. She quickly found them right at the end of the conversation between Van Kooijk and Winters.

"Anything we can do to help you, we will do," Van Kooijk said, his voice bordering on desperate. "Anything."

The group was interrupted by a sudden wave of loud cheering as the tanks came rolling down the streets of Eindhoven.

Van Kooijk smiled. "Right on time."

Dick and Rebecca moved to the side of the street and climbed on top of a lamp post to get a better view of the commotion. All the tanks that were moving through Eindhoven had townspeople and smiling soldiers, all of whom were decorated with kisses from their thankful audience.

"Captain," Van Kooijk began, "I'll be happy to show you the quickest route to the bridges." He then looked back at the tanks, almost like he was making absolutely sure the liberation was real and not just a figment of his imagination.

"I'd be happy to have your help," Dick said, shaking hands with him before turning to Buck. "Get scouts at the edge of town in case we're here for the night."

Rebecca looked at the jubilant crowd once again before being intercepted by Lipton. When she heard her name and rank, she turned her head to face the voice that was calling out to her.

"What's up, Lip?"

Rebecca was glad that Lipton took her rank a little more seriously than the other NCO's did. She noticed she always referred to her as captain or ma'am and always saluted her except for this time around because of the fear of snipers. It felt nice to have her ego stroked every now and then.

"Captain Winters wants you to stay with First Platoon through the night until we get to Nuenen, ma'am."

Rebecca knew that it was all due to the commotion that took place in the crowd that day. She sighed at the news but gladly walked with Lipton as they found their way to First Platoon.

Easy Company stayed that night in the outskirts of town in an orchard. Being the CO of First Platoon, she made routine checks during the night to make sure that everyone was okay.

Tomorrow, they would be headed to Nuenen, into battle. She dreaded going back but mentally prepared herself for the battle to come.

Finally, after making sure everything was just so and prepared, Rebecca too fell asleep, propped up against a tree under a blanket of stars.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, all! I am so sorry for being MIA these few months. School has been driving me up a wall, some personal issues, as well as actively trying to find a beta well versed in BoB history to help me, has kept me from writing for such a long time. I am trying to get back into it, though. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did leave a review to let me know. More is to come! :3


	19. Chapter 19 - Lost and Found

Last Time: Easy Company jumps into Holland and meets up with the resistance.

"Make a retreat as to advance better." - Li Peng

Now: Rebecca and the boys learn that Operation Market Garden wasn't going to unfold as planned.

* * *

 **Chapter 19 - Lost and Found**

The next morning, Easy Company rolled down the road on the tanks they would use to liberate Nuenen.

Rebecca sat atop one of them, happy to be off her feet for a change. As they rolled along, she looked around, noting the partially cloudy sky that made the vibrant wildflowers stick out all the more. The majority of the land was practically untouched; one might not have even been able to tell that there was a war going on if it weren't for the tanks rolling down the streets.

The majority of the men, she noticed, were enjoying the peace the morning offered by embracing the silence around them. Some slept on the tanks while others munched on K-rations. It was odd to see the company so quiet when they were usually enthralled in conversation, given the opportunity.

As she was scoping out the beautiful Dutch scenery, something in the distance caught her eye: a figure holding something wrapped in a blanket to their chest.

She wasn't able to guess right away what it was, but never, not even in her wildest dreams, would she have guessed that it was a baby.

As the tank got closer, Rebecca could make out feminine features on the figure, along with a complete lack of hair and tattered clothing. It soon dawned on her that the woman must have been one of the German sympathizers exiled from Eindhoven. But this woman had a baby and had no choice but to take care of it herself.

It was painful for Rebecca to see the woman with her bastard child begging for food. It might not have even been her choice to sleep with the enemy, and yet, she had to pay the price.

Rebecca hopped off the tank as it got closer to the mother and her child. She dug through her med bag for some hygiene products and a K-ration and handed it to the frail-looking woman. Rebecca gave her a hopeful smile, hoping that the Dutch woman knew her shame wouldn't last forever.

Then she turned and continued on towards the company's objective. It tore her up knowing she couldn't do more.

XXX

Hours passed and morning turned into afternoon. The parade of tanks rolling down the dirt road was soon met with a sign stating the town of Nuenen was just up ahead.

Rebecca was sitting on top of the tank's highest point when the town's outline came into clear view. The tanks immediately broke into a double procession, and some of the men headed for the runoff channel on the side of the road for cover.

As the procession drew closer to their destination, Lieutenant Brewer broke formation to scope out the town with his binoculars. Rebecca could hardly believe it; the idiot was a walking target, strutting about in the middle of an open road with no protection. What on earth was he thinking?

"Hey! Get a load of General Patton!" Hoobler yelled over the click-clacking of the tank chains.

Brewer did look quite ridiculous marching out in front of the tanks, acting like a valiant commander about to lead his men into battle.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Apparently, Rebecca wasn't the only one wondering what the hell he was doing.

"Makes quite a target, don't he?"

Brewer wasn't the only one though. They were all targets now, every single one of them; all because this fool wanted to snatch up a couple medals and showcase his bravery. This was dangerous - extremely dangerous. They probably had snipers training their sights on them at that very moment.

And Brewer was walking right into those sights. Oh, god.

Bull, recognizing the imminent danger the Lieutenant was in, hopped off the tank to warn him, and to draw him back to the group before it was too late.

It was to no avail, though. He was too far out.

He turned to the call, but right as he did, a sniper out in the distance of the town, fired. The bullet ripped through the flesh of his neck, and he collapsed on the ground sputtering on his blood.

"Sniper!" someone yelled to alert any others stupid enough to run out from the cover.

The quiet procession broke out into chaos. Yells from the men warning others about the sniper and shouts to take cover shattered the calm atmosphere that was shared between the company.

"Sarge!" Miller yelled, pointing to a fast-moving German armored half-track.

Someone called for the company to clear the tank so it could try and destroy the half-track moving towards the town. As they dispersed, the company moved to the dikes below the road for cover.

The tank fired, filling Rebecca's ears with the deafening sound of an explosion, destroying the German vehicle.

Rebecca stayed put, knowing when Bull ran towards the injured Brewer, he would be calling for a medic.

"Medic up front, medic up front!" Bull called.

At Bull's call, she went running for him to help Brewer but stopped when she was beaten to the punch by another medic.

"Keep moving! Get up!" Bull bellowed.

He was calling like a madman, trying to get the company moving to begin the assault. However, no one moved. The men were too scared and decided, even though unwise, to stay in a stationary position.

Rebecca peered over the edge of the channel to see how Lieutenant Brewer was doing when she saw the same sniper fire again and shot the medic in the thigh.

"Shit," Rebecca mumbled to herself.

She had two options: move from her cover and help the two in the completely open, or stay put and let them both die.

Rebecca had no time to think, and couldn't bring herself to leave the two men to die. She quickly leaped from the channel with her med bag in hand and sprinted over to Brewer and the medic.

"Go, Bull, go!" Rebecca yelled, ordering Bull to lead the men.

"Yes ma'am," He said sprinting back towards the tanks.

Rebecca crouched down next to the medic and began taking out a tourniquet when the medic started yelling for her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Help him first!" He managed to groan out while writhing in pain.

She nodded and turned to face Brewer, looking into his vacant eyes. He was obviously in shock and was gripping his own wound out of desperation. She heard the sickening sound of the lieutenant gurgling on his own blood.

She speedily pulled out a tourniquet and a sulfa packet. From ripping open his shirt and looking at the gushing wound, she assessed the bullet hadn't hit an artery.

Thank God, she thought. Brewer's goose would've been cooked if the bullet had blown the artery.

Rebecca sprinkled the sulfur on his wound and applied the bandage, quickly tying it around Brewer's neck. Once her work was done, she moved to the medic.

She pulled her scissors out and cut his pants open, looking at his wound. Lucky for him the wound wasn't too severe. It was bad but not life-threatening.

"You boys are gonna be alright," Rebecca reassured, sticking a syrette of morphine in the two and sticking it to their jackets. They both became very calm after the painkiller flowed into their bloodstream.

Now it was a matter of sitting and waiting for the two men to be picked up and evacuated.

Rebecca was torn. She wanted to continue moving towards the town to make sure her men were okay, but she had to wait for the evacuation team before leaving two wounded men. Something could happen to one of them while she was away and they both could die. Despite her affliction, she chose the latter.

She stuck around, checking to see if their wounds were stable. She knew she had to stay, but it felt like she was abandoning her men.

"Ma'am, isn't there somewhere else you should be?" the medic asked, almost like he could sense her affliction to the situation.

Rebecca looked down at his nametag on his jacket so she could put a name to the face.

"Yes, actually there is." Rebecca huffed. She looked at his name patch. It read _Sullivan._

Sullivan looked up towards her from the supine position he was in. "Well, it looks like you can go, cause here comes evac team," Sullivan said.

In almost-perfect timing, an army ambulance arrived, waiting for the injured that were sure to come. Rebecca waved down the truck, signaling there was wounded in the area. Two medics came rushing out the back with two stretchers in hand ready to evacuate them.

As one medic was loading the more critical Lieutenant Brewer, the other stopped to ask for a report from Rebecca.

"Report, ma'am?" He asked, saluting.

Rebecca stood up from her crouched position to address the medic.

"The lieutenant here was shot in the neck by a sniper. It didn't hit an artery, but it's still pretty deep. The bullet is still lodged in there, so there's no exit wound. I gave him one syrette of morphine for pain."

"His name, ma'am?"

"Brewer, Robert, B, Lieutenant."

"And your company?"

"Easy Company, Second Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment."

Rebecca watched as the medic from the ambulance crouched down towards Brewer, checking his injuries.

"What about him, ma'am?" the medic asked again.

"Shot in the left leg by the same sniper while trying to assist Lieutenant Brewer. Not arterial, but deep. Showed no signs of being paralyzed, no exit wound," Rebecca explained, "Andrew, B, Sullivan, Corporal. Easy Company, Second Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment."

The medic began getting Brewer on the stretcher, Rebecca assisting him. "Thank you, ma'am."

"If everything is all squared away here, I'll be heading into town now," Rebecca said.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Captain, but they just ordered a retreat from the town."

Rebecca eyed him curiously as they boosted Brewer on the stretcher. Her heart sank,

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

The battle had only just started, and they were already retreating.

"Tiger tanks came out of nowhere. Our guys couldn't hold 'em."

"Shit," Rebecca mumbled.

Soon, the sounds of artillery fire that was off in the distant became closer. Troops started running from town with tanks at their heels. The Dutch Resistance tanks started firing off in a last ditch effort to destroy the overwhelming number of German artillery.

Troopers were running by Rebecca to the trucks that pulled up and began loading. She was dumbfounded. It took a few seconds for the cry of medic to register in her head before the medic captain sprinted towards the call.

She jumped into the gulley and saw Buck in the prone position surrounded by Roe, Malarkey, and Muck.

"What the hell did you do to yourself, Buck?" Rebecca asked trying to sound lighthearted, although concerned was etched in her voice.

Buck looked back at Rebecca as Roe began treating his wound.

"Ah, I'm alright Cap'n. Got shot in the ass."

She smiled at him. "Looks like Popeye's not the only one now."

"It's gone right through, Buck. Side to side, both cheeks." Roe explained.

The sound of a blast being fired off from a tank made it more prominent to keep retreating. Specks of dirt flew up in the air making it harder for Rebecca to see the injury. If they didn't keep moving, they would be surrendering instead of retreating pretty soon.

"Malarkey, Go!" Buck yelled.

Rebecca quickly looked a Buck and shot him a shocked look.

"What?" Malark asked, just as shocked as Rebecca.

"Just-just leave me here for the Germans," Buck wearily said as Roe and Rebecca patched up his ass.

"You nuts?" Malarkey asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Buck. You're gonna be fine." Rebecca said sternly.

"We'll carry you," Roe yelled over the.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Buck said through clenched teeth. "I weigh more than all three of you combined," he said, looking at the female captain.

"Come on!" Malarkey said to Muck, leading him towards a farmhouse.

"You quit talking like that, that's an order," Rebecca barked.

Buck chuckled to himself as Rebecca applied more pressure to the wound.

"You know, Becca, this was never the way I pictured your hands on my ass," Buck joked.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "In a second, they'll be moving to your face," she snipped.

Minutes passed when finally, Malarkey, Muck, and now Guarnere arrived back at their sides with a wooden door to help carry Buck.

"See Buck! I told you." Rebecca sighed in relief.

In quick fashion, Roe, Malarkey, and Rebecca all helped to boost Buck on the door and carry him to the trucks.

Rebecca let Malarkey, Muck, and Guarnere drag the door while she walked by it. As the four of them walked, she saw Buck's face contort every bump they went over.

"You're gonna be alright, just hang in there." she consoled.

Suddenly, a large blast exploded close to her, making it much more necessary to move quicker.

Finally, they arrived at the back of one of the trucks and loaded Buck on.

"Alright, now I'm leaving you here with these rapscallions. Think you can handle it?" she joked.

Buck's lips moved up into a small smile. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay."

"You behave in that hospital, ya hear? No giving the nurses a hard time." Rebecca poked at him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said weakly.

Guarnere and Lip were at the back of the truck, helping other men load on.

"One bullet, four holes," Guarnere explained to Lip.

"Yeah, it's almost a miracle," Lip replied, patting Buck's legs.

Guarnere grabbed Lip's shoulder as they started to walk away. "Lip, I don't think we know where the Bull is."

Rebecca's heart dropped and her small smile faded from her face.

This was not good. No one had ever gone missing before.

It felt so wrong to leave Bull there when he was probably still alive.

Buck noticed Rebecca's smile drop and the look of distress took its place. "Becca, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Buck you just relax now," Rebecca said, trying to convince him nothing was wrong.

Winters came around the corner of the truck like a bat out of hell.

"Rebecca," Winters called, signaling for her to get moving.

She gave one last look at Buck and jumped out of the truck before it took off.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Winters yelled. "Keep moving, keep moving!"

Rebecca speed-walked, trying to keep up with Dick. It was shocking for her to see him so angry like this. He was normally so calm. They both met up with Nix near their half-tracks.

"Hurry up, let's go, let's go!" He yelled again, leaning on the side of a vehicle.

"How bad?" Nix asked, finally arriving.

"I don't know yet," Dick answered angrily.

Then, out of nowhere, a ricochet jumped off the side of a half-track, pinging Nix on the helmet, knocking him over.

"Nix!" Rebecca and Dick called.

They both ran to his side, crouching over to the shaken captain, Rebecca ready with her med bag.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." An aghast Nix sputtered.

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief and moved over to the cover of the army truck.

"Am I alright?" He asked, the shock finally seeping in.

"Yeah. Yeah, you feel alright?" Dick asked, cradling the back of his neck.

Rebecca chuckled at the two's sudden intimate moment. Everyone sure was acting weird in the heat of retreat.

Nixon finally shuffled to his feet. "Yeah, quit looking at me like that," Nix demanded.

They both scurried next to Rebecca and took cover as well. Lipton approached them at that moment.

"Cap'n, we got four dead, eleven injured," Lip reported.

"Okay, let's move 'em out," Dick ordered.

"Oh, and sir: Randleman's missing, too," Lip said.

Shit, he really was. Rebecca thought.

"Randleman?" Winters asked, shocked.

Even Winters was shocked. Bull was a good soldier and a damn fine leader. Something must have happened. He wouldn't have given up that easy.

"Yes, sir," Lipton clarified.

Dick looked at the half-track, disgusted. "Okay, let's go."

Lipton ran towards the truck with the other men while Dick, Nix, and Rebecca hopped on a jeep.

All the vehicles began to depart from the town they lost. The mission that was supposed to get them home by Christmas had failed.

I knew it was too good to be true. Rebecca thought cynically.

It was easily sensed throughout the entire convoy that everyone was grieving. Easy Company had never retreated before.

Rebecca looked back to the lost town, fuming with smoke, sharing the same sense of grief her fellow men were feeling.

XXX

After their retreat, Easy Company dug in for the night in the gullies that ran parallel to the roads. The tanks up at the top of the dikes provided a small amount of protection from any opposition they might have faced.

Many of the men were asleep, trying to forget about the disastrous defeat they were dealt, while Rebecca was wide awake, accompanied by Dick and Lewis.

Rebecca was standing next to Lewis, watching as Dick looked out to where Eindhoven was being bombed relentlessly. She could tell just by his slouched demeanor and the way he held his helmet, that he was truly upset about their crushing defeat.

"They're bombing Eindhoven," Dick stated as if the two couldn't see the fire in the distance.

"Yeah," Nix replied.

Rebecca sighed deeply. The company wasn't used to defeat. Now they were forced to look at the results of it too.

"Come on guys, we'll dig in for the night," Dick said, turning away from the blazing town.

Rebecca bent down and grabbed her med bag, ready for sleep.

"Won't be waving so many orange flags at us tomorrow," Nixon said cynically.

Dick took one last look at the town behind him before following his friends into the field to get some much-needed rest.

XXX

"I never fired a shot, the whole time," Hashey mumbled, loading and cocking his rifle.

Bull's squad was dug in and ready to cop some z's, except none of them, could. They were all too worried about Bull to nod off.

Hoobler came stomping over with a bag of bread, handing them out to the members of his squad.

"Find anything out?" Hashey asked, taking a loaf from Hoobler.

"About what?" Hoobler snapped.

He was just as upset about retreating and leaving Bull as they were but what made it worse was the fact that everyone kept asking him about.

"Anything," Hashey replied.

Hoobler continued passing out bread. Once he made it to Garcia, he sat down himself.

"What we're doing next," Garcia said.

As Hoobler sat, he dug around the sack of bread, finding one for himself. "Nope," he said chewing on some bread, "Oh, I did hear one thing. Lieutenant Brewer's gonna make it."

It might not have been the news they wanted to hear, but it was something. The squad was a little shocked at this news. They all knew a shot to the head, where they believed he was shot, was a lethal blow. Hearing he survived was certainly good news.

"What?" Cobb asked

In frustration, Hoobler threw down his bread on the sack. "Lieutenant Brewer's gonna make it!" He said louder this time.

"Nah, there's no way," Cobb argued.

"He's headed back to England. They'll probably send him home," Hoob confirmed.

Webster, lying down chewing his bread, was shocked too. "How is that possible?"

"He did turn his head at the last second when Sergeant Randleman called out to him. Plus, Captain Clark was working on him too," Garcia said.

After a silence befell the group, Guarnere came trudging through the squad kneeling down next to Hoobler. He was probably just as disarrayed as the rest of the company, hearing Bull was missing.

"Hoob." he began, "Any news of the Bull yet?"

Guarnere sensed the dreariness of Bull's squad when he asked. Hoobler shook his head gloomily. Guarnere was upset by this new too, but it boiled into anger when he picked up on the squad's distress.

"If there ain't no body, then there ain't nobody fucking dead. Understand me?" Bill spat.

He had a point. Usually, if there wasn't a body, it meant the person in question was missing.

"I'm gonna look for him," Hoobler announced, getting up.

"Not by yourself you're not," Guarnere broke in. "I'll go with you. Let me get some ammo."

"That's okay," Hashey grunted, standing up. "I'll go."

"Me too," Garcia chimed in.

A sudden onset of confidence erupted in the squad.

"Alright. Go get him," Bill said hopefully.

With half the squad up and raring to bring their sergeant back, Webster got up. Eventually, a very reluctant Cobb did too.

XXX

Rebecca laid back on the dirt walls of the temporary CP where she and Dick were spending the night. She let out an audible sigh and crossed her arms, trying desperately to find a comfortable position to sack out. Every time it finally felt like her eyes were becoming heavy with sleep, she wouldn't be able to keep them closed.

Her mind wouldn't shut up. She couldn't stop thinking about Sergeant Randleman. It was disturbing to think that a terrific leader and soldier like him was MIA. What was worse was the nonchalance of command. If it had been a high-ranking officer, Easy Company, hell, the whole 506th would have turned Holland upside down looking for the officer in question.

Her blood began to boil. He was one of the finest NCO's Easy had. She tried another position, this time on her side, and closed her eyes. No dice. She couldn't sleep. Not with a man missing. She turned on her side, facing Dick. He was out like a light. How? He was the damn company CO and one of his men was missing! A Toccoa man!

She looked at Dick sleeping and became more frustrated.

"What is it, Rebecca? He mumbled, opening one eye.

"I thought you were sleeping," Rebecca said bitterly.

Dick opened both eyes and sat up in the foxhole.

"How could I possibly sleep when you keep tossing and turning and making all that noise?"

She sat up, folded her hands and pouted like a little child. "Sorry."

"What's the problem?" Dick sighed.

At least now he was up. Maybe he would find some motivation and get some people to look for Bull.

"I'm just worried about Bull, is all," she mumbled.

He sighed. "There's nothing we can do."

She was taken aback by this. "What do you mean 'nothing'. We can send a search and rescue team out to look for him."

Rebecca never really was all too friendly with Bull, not like the way she was with the other NCO's. However, in her heart, she knew that the company would suffer a huge loss if they lost him.

"Becca, we can't risk any more men by sending them into enemy territory. You can't let emotion cloud your judgment."

"I'm not letting emotion 'cloud my judgment', Dick. He's one of ours. I thought you of all people would get that," Rebecca huffed, putting her helmet on and climbing out of the foxhole.

"Where are you going?"

She grabbed her med bag and slung it over her shoulder. "To take a walk," she said bitterly.

XXX

Rebecca left the foxhole, a plan formulating in her brain.

I'm gonna get Randleman's squad and find his ass.

If they were caught, they could be charged with going AWOL. They all could be court-martialed.

However, no one was going to know. For all Dick knew, Rebecca was going for a walk and technically, she was. Just the walk was with some other guys and they were walking into enemy territory to find Bull. It was stretching the truth, but it wasn't lying, really. However, it could still get them all in trouble if they were caught.

Rebecca didn't care. She marched through the fog looking for Hoobler and some other guys in Bull's squad. Finally, after much searching she found Hoobler with his squad, talking to Guarnere. By the looks of it, they were formulating their own plan to bring Bull back. Perfect.

"Alright, go get 'em," Rebecca heard Bill say.

She slowly marched up the group. "Hey, boys, what's going on?"

All the members of the group suddenly stopped cold in their tracks. Quickly, everyone dropped their rifles, like kids dropping a cookie back in the jar, hoping their parents didn't see. They all probably thought Rebecca was just checking in on them, heard their plan, and was going to squeal to command.

Hoobler turned to face her. "Uh, nothing ma'am. Just digging in for the night." He said nervously, scratching the back of his neck

The captain folded her arms, raising an eyebrow. "You guys are terrible liars."

Bill waltzed up to Rebecca, defending Hoobler. "Listen Cap'n, we can explain."

"I'm aware of what's going on," Rebecca paused, "And I'm coming with you."

Bill broke out into a smile and the group collectively sighed in relief. Hashey and Garcia smiled and picked up their rifles again.

"You under any orders from CP?" Bill asked.

"Nope, just my own. We're all doing this against orders, so we gotta get moving if we're gonna find him."

The group quickly gathered their gear. Bill stayed behind to let the other NCO's know in case an officer came by.

XXX

The group walked quietly, single file, at the edge of the road.

Webster was on point with Rebecca right at his heels and Hoobler behind her. In all their hearts they knew how important it was to bring Bull back. They had already taken a beating today; twice in one day was unthinkable.

They all stealthily walked through the tall grass with extreme caution. They were in enemy territory and even American and Allied soldiers were to be considered enemy in this case. They were going against orders so every person that crossed their path had to be snuck past.

A low rumble in the distance triggered Webster to signal for them to hit the deck.

He slowly crawled up to the top of the embankment to check it out.

"Webster, us or them?" Hoobler whispered.

Webster looked at the shadow of the vehicle and recognized it as German, led by a tank.

"Not us." He whispered.

He shimmied back the embankment and signaled for everyone to get down.

The group traveled all night looking for Bull with no luck. Finally, it was morning. They trudged down another embankment through the tall wisps of grass, disappointment in their hearts.

Again, they scurried to the ground at the sound of a vehicle making its way up the road. Hoobler raised his rifle and got the vehicle in his sights. Recognizing it as American, he jumped up and signaled they were friendlies with his rifle in the air.

Rebecca went over to Hoobler. "Well, at least we have a ride home."

The jeep pulled over and when it did, Bull slouched over revealing his face to the group. Rebecca watched Hoobler's morph into a look of absolute relief. It looked like he could cry. A sense of relief crawled into her heart as well. Bull was okay.

The squad sped over to the jeep to greet their sergeant. Hoobler was the first one to meet him.

"Where the fuck you been?" Hoobler laughed.

"Glad to see you boys," Bull smiled with his characteristically deep southern drawl.

"Not as glad as us," Cobb began, "Bet you thought we'd given up on you there, huh, boss?"

"Shut up Cobb," someone said.

"What?" He protested.

Rebecca made her way over to the jeep when Bull caught sight of her.

"Ma'am." He said with a quick nod.

She smiled. "Glad to see you're okay."

"I think we should go back now," Webster suggested. He had a point as they were still in enemy territory, and they had been away from their company for a while. The CP had to be wondering by now.

The group managed to all smoosh onto the jeep and soon, they were back to camp.

XXX

When the jeep arrived back to camp, Bull was greeted first by Johnny Martin, then a crowd of his fellow troopers followed. The sight of seeing Bull back was a huge morale boost for the men.

"Bull!" Johnny yelled as the jeep approached him.

He hopped out of the jeep, along with the rest of the members who went to find him. "Hi, Johnny."

"Get a little lost?" Johnny smirked, shaking his hand.

"Something like that," Bull began.

"It's good to see you," Johnny beamed.

Everyone was happy to see Bull.

"You, too."

Out of the corner of Rebecca's eye, she saw Guarnere approaching Bull with more Easy Company men ready to welcome him back.

"I don't know whether to slap you, kiss you, or salute you," Bill joked, heartily shaking Bull's hand. "I told these scallywags you was okay."

"And they didn't listen?" Bull asked.

"Nah, these salty bastards, they wanted to go on a suicide run to drag your ass back. Even 'ol Cap'n Clark here too."

"Is that right?" Bull asked again, looking at his squad.

They were all smiles. You practically couldn't tell they were just beaten by the Krauts hours before.

"Yeah, I told 'em don't bother," Guarnere joked.

Bull looked at them with appreciation. "I never did like this company none."

He walked with Bill, Martin, and Rebecca by his side.

"So, they found ya?" Bill asked.

"Wait, what did you say?" Martin challenged.

"Johnny, don't irritate me," Bill snapped.

"They found you?" Martin joke. "I don't know who's more stupid, you or the hick."

Rebecca chuckled to herself. Everything was right with the world. And command never found out a thing.

The orders to mount up from Lipton was called and all the squads began moving out.

"Let's start falling in now! Cobb, let's go!" Bull yelled.

Rebecca interjected herself. "Bull, I'd like to take a look at that wound now."

"Yes, Captain."

Rebecca guided him to the back of a transport truck where he sat down and let her do her work. Dirt from the moving trucks polluted the air and when the debris cleared Rebecca saw Dick. Bull and Dick shared a respectful look then the captain's eyes fell on Rebecca. He knew damn well that she went looking for Bull with his squad. Judging by the smile and firm nod he gave her, he was okay with that.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, your support and feedback mean the world to me. More is to come!


	20. Chapter 20 - Defeated

Last Time: Easy Company was forced to retreat after the disaster of Market Garden.

"Experience is simply a name we give our mistakes." - Oscar Wilde

Now: Rebecca and the company continue to lick their wounds from their first crushing defeat. Dick leads his men at the Crossroads.

* * *

 **Chapter 20 - Defeated**

It had taken a week for Easy Company to lick the wounds they received from the crushing defeat of Market Garden.

It was a high-risk operation that epically failed. Easy Company lost 180 men with 560 injured. Out of the 101st Airborne, 750 were killed, and 2,100 were injured. The British Airborne lost 8,000 men. It was safe to say that no one would be going home for Christmas.

Easy Company and the 101st had accomplished their portion of the deal by capturing the bridges and the roads for the armored to come up. For some reason, however, and a contributing factor to the failure of Market Garden, was the British had taken forever to bring the said armor up. Easy Company and the British then soon found out that the Krauts were well armed and trained, a far cry from the old men and kids they were promised.

The Germans successfully pushed the Allies back and cut the road they had just taken. It was a continuous cycle that Easy had to deal with until Market Garden was over.

The mission might not have been a failure if it weren't for the botched intelligence. Why they even promised Easy old men and kids was beyond Rebecca. They couldn't get a damn thing accomplished. Easy would retrace their steps and try to retake the towns, but couldn't keep them open long enough to get their armored up. They were unprepared, unable to hold the bridges, and couldn't hold their ground under the German resistance.

By October 2, 1944, Easy Company had completed its tasks on Hell's Highway and was moved to the Island. The 101st Airborne was assigned the left side of the Island's defenses, relieving the British. For now, Easy Company was tasked with defending the bridge at Nijmegen that Germany desperately wanted back.

XXX

Captain Winters sat at a makeshift table in a dingy barn, cleaning his weapon. He anxiously waited for Sergeant Youman and his squad to come back after they were told to keep an eye on the South bank for any enemy movement.

Winters's platoon was sacking out for the night in a barn found in Randwijk that, fortunately, provided the perfect place to set up barracks.

He sat, listening in on his men's conversation, enjoying the small moment of peace they were allotted.

"This is it, boys. Get across the river, across the field and over the dike," Dukeman proclaimed.

"Well, that's a lot of territory to cover." A replacement doubtedly pointed out.

"Where do you want us to go?" Hashey asked.

"You Hashey, you get the penthouse," Dukeman sniped.

Deeming the interaction between veteran and young replacement harmless enough, Dick chuckled to himself. Of course, the straight-laced Captain wouldn't allow the rivaled nature to get too hostile. In some ways, he agreed with the veteran's animosity towards the new guys. Although they had been with them through the disaster of Market Garden and Hell's Highway, the replacements still had a long way to go before they could prove themselves. Having their first taste of combat made the bright eyed and bushy tailed replacements get a little too big for their britches. They needed to be knocked back down a few pegs, sometimes.

"Well, that's a lot of territory to cover," Talbert mocked, imitating the replacement.

"A couple of regular G.I. Joe's, huh?" Dukeman affirmed.

"You said it," Talbert answered, guiding his prized German shepherd with a huge stick, "C'mon." he coaxed, taking a seat next to Winters.

"I swear one of them's never shaved," Talbert sighed.

"Yeah, kids," Dick chimed in, looking up at Talbert from his meticulous gun scrubbing.

Luz who sat with the two admired the German shepherd Tab adopted into the company.

"This is a hell of a dog, Tab."

"Thank you, there you go," Tab grunted as he threw the stick for the dog to retrieve.

The faithful German Shepherd pranced after the stick, proudly taking hold of the stick, and brought to Talbert, earning him a scratch on the head.

"What'd you call it, Tab?" Dick asked, continuing with his work.

"Trigger," Talbert replied, ardently scratching and praising Trigger for his obedience.

"That's good," Luz made known, "I like that, Trigger."

"Got anything on this?" Tab asked Luz, gesturing towards the radio.

"No, it's all quiet." He answered.

Almost like a jinx, the brief lull was abruptly interrupted. The quiet atmosphere quickly tensed as Youman's squad burst through the barn doors struggling to keep Alley's comatose weight in their arms.

"We've got penetration!"

Everyone in the barn leaped at the sudden disruption.

"Alley's hurt, we need the docs," Liebgott yelled.

The table Dick was sitting down at was quickly swiped of all its contents and made into a makeshift gurney for Alley. He was laid down, a body full of frag from a grenade, luckily unconscious to the pain.

"Boyle, get Doc Roe and Captain Clark!" Dick ordered.

XXX

Rebecca and Roe were camped out in the off the cuff aid station the company had set up. It had been unusually slow since the company arrived on the Island. Most of the time, Easy was out on patrols or defending scraps of land close enough to CP that medics weren't needed out of the battlefield. This left the two medics with a lot of time on their hands.

Rebecca sat on one of the boxes of supplies, her elbow propped up on a taller adjacent one, eyes closed in a light sleep. The wane of activity left her bored, giving her plenty of excuses to nap, especially in the wee hours of the morning. Her counterpart, Roe laid across the way on an open table, his arm strategically placed over his eyes, sleep having long caught up to him.

Rebecca was on the edge of falling off into a deep sleep when Private Boyle came bounding into the aid station.

"Doc! Captain!" He yelled.

Rebecca jolted up, her eyes snapping open at the cry of her name. Fatigue fleeting from her eyes, she sat up, scared half to death. She held her hand to her heart, in an attempt to get her bearings.

"It's Alley! He was hit on the patrol!" Boyle gasped, out of breath from running.

In no time flat, both Rebecca and Roe were up and out of the aid station allowing Boyle to lead the way.

The three sprinted the short distance from the aid station to the barn, bounding through the door.

"Give us room!" Roe yelled as the two approached Alley.

"Boyle, get the boots off the leg. Liebgott, use the sulfur," Roe ordered.

"Alright, let's get this done quickly, we gotta move," Rebecca ordered checking Alley's pulse and pupils.

Lipton took to action yelling for his men to get moving. He swiftly assembled a squad for Winters, and just like that, the men once peacefully relaxing in the barn left in a commotion out the doors, leaving Roe and Rebecca to their work.

Alley's eyes slowly cracked open, his eyes washed with confusion. He was out cold and the only thing he last remembered was being at the crossroads. Now, he woke up to an immense panic and two medics in his face.

"What happened? Where am I?" He mumbled as Rebecca and Roe continued to work on him.

"You're gonna be just fine, Alley. Just a few scratches," Rebecca cooed to him, trying to get her work done.

Roe and Rebecca managed to get Alley stable in quick fashion, thanks to his calm demeanor. The poor man was so out of it, not knowing whether to shit or wind his watch. Eventually, he was taken away, leaving Rebecca with confidence in his retaliation.

The two medics, having finished their work, went back to the aid station, not knowing what was to become at the crossroads.

XXX

"When do you think we'll know how it went?" Roe asked, assuming his prior position.

Rebecca looked up from Alley's file she was updating. "I'm guessing when they call us in to take care of casualties. That's when we'll know." She guessed leaning back in her chair.

The men in the barn assembled and left Rebecca and Roe to aid the station, waiting on pins and needles. They had no idea what was going on, leaving Rebecca on edge. She was looking over Alley's chart, but nerves getting the best of her, made it impossible for the woman to even read one sentence clearly.

"You think Alley is gonna make it, Cap?"

Rebecca knew in her heart that he would be fine. It was nothing come battalion surgeons couldn't handle.

"I think he'll be okay, but it never hurts to pray."

Roe turned his head to face Rebecca, intrigued. "You're Catholic?"

"Mmhm," Rebecca hummed, going over the same sentence for the fifth time.

Rebecca had always been religious. She grew up a strict Catholic at home and seldom found a Sunday where she wasn't at church with her family. Rebecca and her mother used to get dressed in their Sunday best, and her father in a sports coat and tie. Soon, however, after her mother died, her father and God weren't on speaking terms anymore. Another good memory tarnished by the death of her mother.

Rebecca swatted the old thoughts from her mind. thinking it a good time to put her nerves to rest with some much-needed sleep.

"Roe, I think things are set here. Go to barracks catch some sleep. We'll be no good to them tired," Rebecca ordered.

"Yes, Captain."

Rebecca waited until Roe left before she got up, put her work away, and made way to her quarters. It was going to be a long while before her help was needed at the crossroads.

XXX

It felt like it had been minutes between the time Rebecca's head hit the pillow, to the time she was woken up.

The sun hadn't even crept into the sky when she was pulled from sleep by a runner. Rebecca quickly sprung out of bed, anxiety making her fingers stumble and quiver over her belt buckle. Barely mustered, Rebecca left like a whirlwind and grabbed her helmet, her bedhead an unsolved problem from her angst.

The same runner met her at the entrance of the officers quarters. "There's a jeep waiting to pick you up, ma'am."

"Status, Private?" Rebecca asked, still struggling to do something with her hair.

"They overpowered the Germans at the Crossroads." He stated, resolutely.

Finally able to get her hair up and out of the way, Rebecca felt a sudden rush of relief. It was always hard watching behind the sidelines while the Company engaged in battle. This was a victory the men needed. After the disaster that was Market Garden, everyone needed a little morale boost.

The jeep sped down the road, only stopping when they arrived at the crossroads. Rebecca hopped out of the jeep, slinging her bag around her shoulder, preparing herself for the work ahead of her. She crossed the dirt path and climbed down in the dikes, not knowing what to expect. Her eyes however quickly widened in shock. The number of German casualties was astounding.

"Jesus." She whispered.

There was so damn many.

Collecting herself, Rebecca scanned the scene for the nearest medical personnel. Catching sight of private tending to a wounded man, she made her way over.

"Private, what's the situation?" Rebecca asked.

The young medic loaded the injured man on the back of the truck and gave off a quick salute. "Twenty-two wounded, ma'am. We're still waiting on more medics to arrive and help out. The wounded men are over there." He stated, pointing towards an area off the road.

She nodded leaving the young medic to his work.

Rebecca swung her med bag off her shoulder and squatted down next to a wounded man. She instantly became enveloped into her work as she jumped from one man to the next accessing wounds and getting all casualties evacuated.

XXX

The sun had fully risen in the sky by the time Rebecca was finished.

She smacked the side of the truck assuring the driver the man was safely loaded and ready to be evacuated. Rebecca pulled out her canteen from her belt and took a swig trying to replenish her energy. Twenty-two wounded took longer than she would have thought, Rebecca was exhausted.

She prepared her weary body for more strain and sought Captain Winters for more work. A medic's work was hardly ever done.

Climbing out of the dike and back on the road, Rebecca spotted Sergeant Talbert sitting on the side of the road, drinking from his canteen. Judging from the size of the bags under his eyes, the man was up all night. His face was wrought with fatigue.

"Tab?" Rebecca called to called.

Talbert got up from his relaxed position, saluting Rebecca. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Do you know where I could find Captain Winters?"

"Yes ma'am, he right across the dike by the German prisoners."

Rebecca nodded and headed over the dike, finding Dick ordering Liebegott to take the German prisoners back to CP. As she approached, she saw him unload Joe's rifle, leaving only one round. It seemed Dick was attempting to tame Liebgott's aggressive behavior he tended to have towards the Kraut prisoners. The fiery Jew was notorious for being overly cruel towards prisoners and even more notorious for dropping prisoners on the way back to CP.

"You have one round," he said, loading it back into the rifle, "Johnny, how many prisoners do we have?"

Across the way, Johnny called out to Dick in the ditch where the prisoners were. "We got eleven, sir."

"Okay. You drop a prisoner, the rest'll jump you. I want all the prisoners back at battalion CP, alive."

Dick made especially sure to put stress on the "alive" part.

"Yes, sir," Liebgott growled.

Dick turned around catching eyes with Rebecca as she approached him.

"I gotta hand it to ya, that was some smart thinking. Joe does tend to get a little hot-headed around the Krauts."

"What's up, Becca?" Dick suspired, no doubt exhausted from last night's fight.

"I just finished triaging our wounded, just looking for more to do."

"There's some more prisoners I'd like you to take a look at. We didn't want to move them until they were looked at."

Dick lead Rebecca over to the remaining prisoners. Their wounds weren't too critical, but most had open wounds that needed to be looked at before they were sent to CP.

One by one, Rebecca looked over the prisoner's wounds. Despite the Germans being detained, Rebecca was still on edge. It was nerve-wracking being so close to the enemy. However, she didn't have anything to worry about, Bull Randleman and Johnny Martin were just across the field keeping guard.

Rebecca got into a comfortable rhythm taking care of each prisoner. Comfortable enough she forgot it was the enemy she was treating. Comfortable enough that she let her guard down. One by one, The prisoners who were looked at were taken back to battalion, and pretty soon, only one remained.

Rebecca approached the last prisoner and offered a slight tip of her helmet before she began cleaning the wound on his neck. The prisoner glared up at her with a ferocious malevolence in his eyes, making the hair on the back of Rebecca's neck stand up.

Discarding the look as the Kraut's soreness from being captured, she began her work.

Letting Rebecca get close enough to pour sulfur on his wound, the German prisoner out of nowhere, leaped on her, slamming Rebecca to the ground.

Before she had time to process the pain from the hard whack her head took, her breath was quickly stolen as the prisoner pinned Rebecca down by the neck, digging his fingers in her windpipe. The immense pressure caused Rebecca to panic. She thrashed under the Kraut, struggling to push him off and call for help.

" _Fick dich, du schlampe!"_ His eyes burned with emptiness and anger.

He pressed harder making sure to keep Rebecca quiet so he could finish her off.

Rebecca clawed her fingers at his hands, eyes watering. Her arms failed her, falling to her side as the energy escaped Rebecca. The further he dug his fingers in Rebecca's neck the more the stars burned into her skull. A sour taste grew in her mouth and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. She gulped and gasped uselessly trying to find any air to fill her burning lungs. The fire in her chest washed into ice that traveled to her arms and legs that stuck her like pins and needles.

Just as Rebecca was on the brink of unconsciousness, the darkness and the intense cold about to overtake her, the immense pressure was lifted from her almost lifeless body.

When the prisoner was off her, Rebecca lied motionlessly, eyes still wide with shock. Ever so slowly and painfully she felt the life pour back in. Then, a strong urge to fall asleep overtook her. Everything went black.

XXX

 **October 17, 1944**

Dick sat back in his chair, looking back at his finished work. The twelve-day late battalion report took much longer to write than necessary. It should've been a routine job. However, Dick couldn't put into words just what happened to Rebecca.

He and Nix couldn't believe it was her lying down on that stretcher that approached them. Just thinking about how dead she looked brought chills down Dick's spine, making him want to forget the whole damn battle.

The awful image was shaken from his mind as a knock sounded at the door. Dick sighed. It was probably Zielinski with more papers to sign.

"Enter."

Dick was more pleased to see Rebecca enter the attic gone bedroom, hair down, dressed in her OD's. She was still recuperating, having just ended her two weeks rest and pushing through her month-long light duty sentence. Col. Sink was more than generous, allotting her next to no work until she was fully recovered.

"Hey," Rebecca rasped out, "How's the report coming along?"

The damage done by the Kraut prisoner would have been fatal if it weren't for Johnny Martin and Bull pulling the bastard off of Rebecca just in time. However, there was significant bruising to her trachea and a visit from the battalion surgeon guessed it would take up to a month before it would heal.

Completely ignoring her question, Dick sat up in his desk chair, getting up. "How are you feeling?"

After the attack, Dick and Nixon were relentless in making sure that she was constantly doted on and resting, despite her constant efforts to speed up the recovery process. The awful finger marks left on her neck triggered something in their heads to begin fawning all over her whenever they saw her.

It was bad enough having those two. Roe too was the same, if not worse. The medic was constantly clucking over Rebecca despite the fact she was still a nurse and knew how to take care of herself.

"I'm alright, pain's not too bad today," Rebecca croaked out, "Plus, the bruising is almost all gone."

At first, the bruising was absolutely ghastly. It's dark purple color stretched from her windpipe to her carotid artery. Just the sight of it was enough to make anyone in a room stop what they were doing to stare. Now that two weeks had passed, the dark purple turned into a yellowish-brown, making it look more like a coffee stain birthmark rather than the result of a brutal attack.

"Good to hear," Dick smiled, "You hear about the rescue mission the company's going on?"

"Yeah, Moose will do a great job, don't worry."

Dick had been promoted to the Battalion XO after the battle of the Crossroads, a promotion he wasn't fully able to enjoy after Rebecca's attack and recovery. Easy Company wasn't Dick's priority anymore, so he left them in the hands of Moose Heyliger. It was hard for him to make the adjustment, and Rebecca knew it. Easy Company had a special place in Dick's heart. She reminded him every chance she got that Easy was in good hands with Moose.

"I know, I know. I just wish that-,"

"You were going with them?" Rebecca continued, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, yeah, I do," Dick admitted, looking up at Rebecca. "Hey, uh, why don't you sit down. Rest for a bit?"

Rebecca sighed. "Dick, I'm fine. Please, stop doting on me." She said plopping down on the cot.

Despite her best efforts to show otherwise, Rebecca was still having a hard time breathing and got winded easily. She could barely walk from her quarters to where Dick was without getting tired.

Dick held his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, alright."

She sat for a few moments, feeling the throbbing in her throat pound away. The pain was still pretty significant.

"Well, uh, I could go for a glass of water," Rebecca admitted.

Dick smirked at her, reveling in the fact that he was right. Rebecca still was recovering. So, to oblige her, he walked over to the shelf hanging on the wall and poured a glass of water from the pitcher. As he handed the beverage to her, Zielinski entered the room with more papers to sign, dampening their light-hearted mood with more work.

The short, rotund man began shuffling about the room, going to town on his paperwork. Rebecca eyed the man as he vigorously accomplished his tasks. She didn't hate Zielinski, it just fascinated her that he would probably go through the whole war and never see a second of combat. He seemed so content being surrounded by paper all day, having no real impact on the outcome of the war. War-hardened veterans often took to men like Zielinski with much enmity. The man's soft features didn't strike Rebecca as someone who could be in the infantry anyhow.

Another knock on the door stirred Rebecca from her thoughts.

"Hey, Dick, finish your novel yet? That's a lot of homework." Nixon said.

"And I thought executive officer was supposed to be a fun job," Moose joked.

The two jokesters ducked into the slowly crowding attic, probably having come all this way just to bust Dick's chops.

The close quarters of the room made it very easy to see Rebecca lying down on the cot, faltering Nixon's light-hearted mood as he felt the urge to fawn over her.

"Hey, Becca, how're you feeling?" Nixon asked.

Instead of answering, Rebecca simply waved him off, letting him continue on with Dick. Accepting her gesture, Nixon went right back to his jesting mood.

"Who are you?" Nixon asked Zielinski.

"Zielinski, sir." He answered, seeming a little insulted.

"Who is he?" Nixon asked Dick this time, not really caring to hear from the short man.

"Zielinski, my orderly," Dick said.

Nixon whistled falsely admiring the product of Dick's new promotion.

"Well, rank does have its privileges," Moose added.

"Orderly, huh?" Nixon began, already formulating a plan to abuse Zielinski's services. "I suppose you do stuff like get coffee?"

"Can do, sir."

"Black no sugar," Nix ordered, "And a bacon sandwich. What, you want something?" Nixon asked, turning to Moose.

"Bacon sandwich!" Moose called out.

Rebecca sat up from her resting place, taking advantage of the moment. "Make that two." Her voice still a croak.

"And another coffee!" Nixon called out after Zielinski.

Dick smirked and gathered up the finished papers. "You can give this to Colonel Sink with my compliments," Dick said, handing over the battle report.

"All that for two pages, huh? Well, I guess you did have some distractions," Nixon said gesturing towards Rebecca.

"Shut up, Nix," Rebecca rasped out.

"Guess that means it's gonna take a while," Nix continued.

"Yeah, it is. You want a job?" Dick scoffed, getting increasingly frustrated with the two's antics.

"Ah, there it is. I think somebody wished he were back in charge of Easy Company, Moose." He said taking a seat at the edge of the cot next to Rebecca.

"Are you two just here to gloat?" Dick asked, unamused.

"No, just rub it in a little bit."

Rebecca chuckled to herself. She knew how much it killed Dick to sit behind a desk while Easy went on without him. Of course, Nixon just had to rub salt in the wounds and make it worse.

"Moose is gonna lead his first mission as company commander," Nixon continued.

"Operation Pegasus is set to go off. I thought I might give you the heads up." Moose said.

"Pegasus," Dick said, getting up, "Yeah, yeah, great. Everybody knows their job?"

"We drilled with the boats all day. Lieutenant Welsh is coming along, and the Canadian engineers. Colonel Dobie knows his stuff," Moose explained.

"Know how many times you wanna cross the river?" Dick asked.

"If there really are 140 Brits in hiding over there, three trips."

"Speed is the key, what time's jump-off?"

"We'll be at the far side of the Rhine at 0100," Moose answered.

"Speed is the key," Dick trailed off. "Keep moving and lead the way."

"Dick," Nixon began, getting up, "Easy's in good hands."

"Yeah. Yeah, right, well hang tough."

"I could say the same to you," Moose laughed, offering a hand to shake.

It was painfully obvious that Dick did not like being this high up in the chain of command.

"Good luck, Moose." He said, passing on his duties to Moose.

"You run into any bacon sandwich you do the same, alright?" Nixon joked, before leaving.

Nixon and Moose left, ducking out of the attic leaving Dick and Rebecca alone.

Dick sat back down in his chair and Rebecca got up from the cot, chuckling.

"What?" Dick asked sighing, resting his head on his hand.

"It's kinda funny. You act like the father of the Company, very protective."

Before Dick could even open his mouth, Rebecca spoke again.

"I know they mean a lot to you, but Moose is a great leader. It's good that you're moving up."

XXX

It was late in the night when Easy came back with all the British soldiers. Dick remained in his quarters, still mulling over paperwork, while Rebecca remained on the cot, out cold.

Dick heard the boisterous celebration coming from the bar just across from his window, and walked over. He pulled back the curtain on the window, smiling at the sound of his former company's celebration.

XXX

Easy Company remained in Holland for the rest of October, trying to keep whatever ground they had. But time and time again, Easy was forced to retreat forcing them into Driel.

The constant defeats were harrowing on everyone. The Company thought things couldn't get much worse. Now, they had to now get used to a new CO.

Moose Heyliger was to be Easy Company's new CO. He was a great leader and very smart on the battlefield. Even though he was from another company, the men took a liking to him. Maybe it was because his leadership in battle reminded them of Winters.

XXX

It was another slow evening for Roe and Rebecca. They were once again hulled up in the aid station, waiting for something, anything to happen just to lessen the boredom.

However, when both medics got the news that Lieutenant Heyliger was shot by one of his own, Rebecca felt such guilt for wishing for something interesting to happen that night.

Rebecca and Roe raced out of the aid station and met Winters, Welsh, and the private that shot him. Moose laid out on the back of a jeep in shock, bleeding out.

Rebecca felt bad for the private. The poor guy was just doing his job. The thick fog that constantly rolled in at night in Holland made it very hard to see who was who. Guilt and panic were clearly etched in the young man's voice, worrying about what would become of him.

"We got him, Harry. You give him morphine?" Roe asked quickly.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"How much?" Rebecca asked.

"I can't remember, two three syrettes maybe." He guessed, helping Rebecca and Roe get Moose of the jeep.

"Three syrettes, maybe?" Roe retorted, anger beginning to lace his words.

"Yeah," Dick confirmed.

"Jesus Christ! Were you trying to kill him?" Rebecca snapped.

Morphine was often a very helpful tool in the battlefield, but at high doses it was lethal. Every soldier was trained on how to properly administer morphine on themselves and others in a safe manner. This was a huge blunder on Dick and Harry's part.

"I think it was two," Harry said, trying to calm down the two angry medics.

"You don't think it might be important to let us know how much medication the man has had, huh?" Roe yelled.

The four of them worked to load Moose onto the gurney and load him into the ambulance.

"I don't see one syrette on Moose's jacket!" Rebecca continued yelling.

"I'm sorry, guys," Dick apologized.

"Sure is a good thing he's a big man. Maybe he'll stand a chance," Roe continued venting.

"He was in a lot of pain, Doc, we didn't know what to do," Harry defended.

"Yeah, well you oughta. You are officers, you are grownups, you oughta know!"

Rebecca had never seen the even-tempered Cajun so angry before. Of course, she was infuriated too, but Roe just flat out yelled at two high ranking officers. But, If he hadn't of let them have it, Rebecca sure as hell was gonna.

"Roe, you go with him. I gotta stay here and do damage control," Rebecca seethed, looking furiously at Welsh and Winters.

Roe nodded head and climbed in on the back of the ambulance.

"Alright, let's go, C'mon, move it!" He yelled.

The engine revved up, Dick closed the doors to the vehicle and smacked the glass with his bloodstained hand, signaling for the vehicle to move. Then, they were gone. Moose's fate now lied in the hands of the good Lord.

"Jesus," Rebecca mumbled.

"Becca," Dick started, "We weren't thinking."

She held her hand up, commanding Dick to stop. "It happened. There's nothing you can do about it now." She said sharply

Easy Company was now down another CO, leaving the leadership of Easy Company up in the air again.

XXX

A few days after Moose's accident, Dick knew he needed to visit Rebecca to make amends. It was going to be hard to confront Rebecca after screwing up so bad. She was fuming mad and could barely bring herself look Dick and Harry in the eyes.

Dick approached the door of her quarters and gently knocked bracing himself for what was to come.

"Enter."

Rebecca sat at her desk writing and looked up to see her visitor. Seeing it was Dick, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Yes, Richard?"

That was how Dick knew for sure she was upset. Rebecca never called him Richard. She was just like his mother when he used to get in trouble as a boy.

"I uh, wanted to know how Moose made it."

"He made it, luckily."

Dick sighed in relief. If it wasn't the bullet that killed Moose, it would have been the morphine. Thank God it was neither.

"Good, that's great."

"Anything else?" Rebecca asked, perched on her high horse.

"Yes, I'm very sorry about what happened that night. It was unacceptable."

Rebecca got up and walked over to Dick. "Alright, we all make mistakes."

Dick quickly hugged Rebecca, tightly.

"Alright, alright," Rebecca gasped, "You've made your point."

The two let go from their embrace and smiled at each other.

"Well, I'm sorry too," Rebecca began, "I shouldn't have held a grudge, you are obviously very inexperienced with medicine," she joked.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be," Dick chuckled.

"That's how it's gonna be," Rebecca affirmed.

Despite Dick and Rebecca working out their problems, one problem still remained: who was going to lead Easy Company?

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I know it was pretty intense but I guess that's a good segue for what's to come. Bastogne is approaching and it's going to be a wild ride for Rebecca and Easy. I'm trying my hardest to post weekly but I don't know how long that's going to last since my revisions are beginning to catch up with what I last wrote. The number of pre-written chapters is getting lower. Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter if you did please let me know how I'm doing!


	21. Chapter 21 - Want

Last Time: Easy Company loses its CO to an accident, weakening them further.

"The distance between what you want and what you get is what you do." - Unkown

Now: Dick and Rebecca go on leave to Paris.

* * *

 **Chapter 21 - Want**

Easy Company was in a strange state of limbo; they had no CO, no one to lead them. Moose probably would have been a good leader, but a damn lot of good "would" does. After being evacuated to the hospital, a new lieutenant came in.

First Lieutenant Norman Dike was a rigid military-career type and probably a favorite from division HQ. His stiff demeanor and good looks made a very good impression. However, the company soon learned not to trust him. After being in the field with him once, his good first impressions didn't amount to jack shit.

Easy was used to fighting with Winters, always leading in the front and making smart, decisive moves. Dike, however, didn't lead at all. He soon acquired the name "Foxhole Norman" as a result of his continuous disappearances when the company was in the field or engaging the enemy. Concerns began to rise as many of the men began feeling Dike was only tolerating them so he could eventually move up the ladder; get some combat experience and screw.

However, On November 24, any kind of worry, concern, or fear soon disappeared when word broke Easy would be relieved by a Canadian unit. Rebecca couldn't have been more thrilled to find out Easy was being pulled from the line. The overwhelming need to take a good, long shower became even greater when she heard they were going back to France. The dirt that layered her skin made her look as if she spent her time sunbathing in Florida rather than fighting off the Krauts in Holland. Rebecca's skin absolutely crawled whenever she thought about hot water and a bar of soap running on her skin.

On November 26, Easy Company arrived at Camp Mourmelon after being in Holland for the seventy-three days. Many hoped it to be the perfect opportunity to get Dike up to snuff and stitch Easy Company back together.

Camp Mourmelon turned out to be a perfect staging area for the time being. Barracks were emptied and cleaned out from their previous German occupants and any standing building proved perfect for Division tasks and housing for officers.

The transition from being in combat to garrison duty came faster than imagined. Most guys were simply relieved to be off the line especially after the beating they took in Holland and the accident with Moose. They all should have wanted to sleep for a week. However, after a few nights worth of good sleep, some chow, a shower, and a fresh uniform, the boys rearing up to go and blow off steam.

Much to Rebecca's dismay, the boy's process of blowing off steam entailed getting into fist fights with the accompanied 82d boys and generally making a ruckus on their passes to Reims. Guys from the 101st, mostly Easy guys, came back with injuries that left Rebecca, Roe, and Spina swamped with unnecessary work.

"Ah, you should have heard that prick from the 82d, Cap'n," Liebgott seethed as Rebecca wrapped his hand.

She looked down at his bruised and bloodied hand utterly annoyed, tucking in the tail of the gauze.

"Son of a bitch asks me what our eagle patch is screaming for. Do you know what his dope friend said? Help! Help! Help!" He mock imitated the man. "He was just asking to get walloped!"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the nonsensical violence. "Well, ya think you could've laid off of him a bit, there Joe? You guys are killing me over here."

Unfortunately for Rebecca, the nonsense didn't cease until December 4 when all passes were canceled. Division undertook the task of figuring out ways for the guys to work off their energy that usually included marches, parades, and calisthenics. What the men really took pleasure it was the baseball, basketball, and football games that were organized. Rebecca herself took a liking to the three movie theatres set up and the Red Cross club.

Veterans soon returned and a wave of new guys came in to replace the dead. Easy Company was weaker than ever, despite the new help. Company Commanders worked to blend the replacements into the outfit but found it increasingly tricky due to veterans not taking any exercises and field maneuvers seriously. Everyone was scrambling to get Easy whole again as the airborne commanders expected casualties to be high in the next action among junior officer ranks.

XXX

"Easy Company still only has 65% strength and most of those are replacements, including their new CO," Dick began.

Rebecca sat in an old, faded brown leather chair in Winters's office discussing Easy Company's latest predicament. The way he broke down how dire the situation made Rebecca's stomach do somersaults. They were simply unprepared.

"How's Lieutenant Dike doing?" Nix queried, sitting up in his seat.

"Three weeks in Holland, the guys are already calling him Foxhole Norman," Welsh replied, a cigarette dangling from his lips, handing Nixon a cup of tea.

Rebecca had heard mumblings amongst the men; mumblings she hadn't heard since Sobel was in command of Easy. She slumped in her chair as if the conversation was weighing her down.

"Well, they're talking about a mid-March action at the earliest, so, we train the guys for three months, we jump into Berlin, we end the war," Nix continued.

Everyone seemed to believe this. The war was almost over and Hitler had little left to bring.

Rebecca, herself had no objections to staying in Mourmelon for three months. Any excuse to stay off the frontlines were good enough for her, especially after the licking the 506th took in Holland. Plus, it would give Easy plenty of time to get used to Dike.

Rebecca saw it as a prime opportunity to catch up on her letters to home and maybe even get back in the classroom. She was surprised at how much she enjoyed teaching.

"The only thing holding Easy Company together is the NCO's, Toccoa men," Dick stated, drawing everyone back to Easy's main problem.

Rebecca new Dick had a point. Halfway decent officers were few and far between, the other men were replacements, and then the Toccoa men. Easy Company was being held together by glue and string. Their own damn CO was a replacement for crying out loud. Dike was expected to lead the men into battle and so far he was doing a piss poor job at it.

"Sir," Zielinski entered, interrupting the conversation, "There's a Sergeant Guarnere here to see you."

Rebecca perked up from her slouch. Bill had been away at the hospital after hurting his leg in a motorcycle accident. And by that, Bill stole the motorcycle, ventured too far off into no man's land and got pinged by an enemy sniper. Typical Wild Bill Guarnere. She was happy nonetheless to have him back.

The Sergeant limped in, which gave Rebecca reason to believe Bill busted out before he was ready.

"Look what the train brought in," Welsh began.

Guarnere took his cap off to all four officers in the room, looking as happy as ever.

"Hey, the daredevil," Nixon smiled.

Rebecca approached Bill, pursing her lips. "I see you bunked out before you were ready," a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

Bill scratched the side of his head. "Ah, sorry Cap'n, the nurses kicked me out. Would ya believe it? I guess I was too much for them," Guarnere joked.

"You're too much for us," Rebecca smiled, hugging him quickly.

Pulling from Rebecca, Bill limped over Winters. "Hiya, Captain."

"Welcome back, Bill," Dick welcomed, shaking the sergeant's hand his mouth curving into a smile.

Rebecca saw Bill look Dick up and down. She could tell he was disappointed. The rumors were true, he wasn't leading Easy anymore. And, if she knew Bill he would take one look at Dike and sense what a phony he was.

"Jesus, it's true. I never thought I'd see you behind a desk," Bill sighed.

"Yeah, and someday you'll be sitting behind it," Nixon said, reaching over to shake Bill's hand.

"Well," Bill said, resuming his carefree attitude. "I just went AWOL from the hospital to get back here, sir. I hope that's not gonna cause you a problem."

Dick looked up from his paperwork. "Would you care if it did?"

"Not a bit, sir," Bill grinned up at Dick, pulling out something from his OD jacket, "Got a letter for you here from Moose. Lieutenant Heyliger, sir."

Rebecca sat back in her chair, her heart sinking. She felt wretched about what happened to him. The whole situation was a nightmare. Moose was Easy's only hope at a decent leader. Now, they were stuck.

"He's recovering but it's gonna be a long haul." He continued.

"Thanks, Bill," Dick thanked.

The room became quiet all of a sudden, and the officers all exchanged looks. The atmosphere became stale. Harry looked down, ashamed. They all felt like they could have done something differently. That night brought out the worst in everyone.

"So, I hear there's gonna be a football game, those chumps from the 5-0 deuce, is that right?" Bill asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah, Christmas day," Welsh confirmed, raising his head.

"Great, Skytrain boys," Bill mocked, "Can't wait."

Bill looked around the room as the conversation became stale, suddenly becoming soft-spoken.

"Great. Well, er. I'll just go find some trouble."

He saluted Winters and began walking towards the door.

"You do that," Nixon replied, shaking Bill's parting.

"Hey, Bill?" Winters asked.

"Yes, sir?" Bill said, turning back.

"No more joyriding, right? Captain Clark here might just kill you."

Rebecca scoffed. Damn right she would. When she found out what had happened to Bill, Rebecca was furious, she almost did kill him. If that sniper had aimed any higher, Bill would have been dead.

Bill smiled a toothy grin, "Wouldn't want that, sir."

One more thing coming across his mind, he turned around once more. "Oh, er, anybody ever heard of a little joint called, Lulu's?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"You got me," Harry stated.

Rebecca knew very well what Lulu's was. It was a whorehouse that the men insisted on going to. Easy guys would come back and no less than a day later, come running to her complaining their johnson hurt. Venereal diseases were skyrocketing, again.

Rebecca kept her mouth shut. She didn't want 'Ol Gonorrhea to actually get the disease he was nicknamed after. She also didn't want to take care of his sorry ass when he got infected. If he didn't go because Rebecca didn't tell him, it was a win-win for both.

"I'll just ask around," Bill concluded.

He finally limped away and Zielinski came and closed the door behind him.

"Well, I guess now's a good time as any," Nixon began, pulling out two pieces of paper from his pocket.

"What's that, a piece of paper?" Dick asked, eyeing the papers, "I don't wanna see another piece of paper," Dick fretted.

"General Taylor has flown back to Washington. He's left General Mcauliffe in charge of the division. Colonel Sink is in Reims to see Marlene Dietrich," Nixon explained, holding the papers up for Dick to see.

"Marlene Dietrich is in Rheims?" Welsh interjected.

Even Rebecca was excited to hear the news. She had admired the starlet since she was in high school.

"At the USO," Nix confirmed quickly answering the excited redhead.

"I'm outta here, I'm going to Rheims."

Welsh no doubt already had plans cranking his mind to stake out and track the poor woman down in hopes of sending an autograph home to Kitty. The things he did for the woman amazed Rebecca entirely.

"Strayer will be in London for at least another week for Lt. Colonel Dobie's wedding. I personally am heading back to Aldbourne to look up a certain young lady," Nixon rambled on.

"What are you telling me?" Dick asked, wishing to get to the point.

You, my friend, and Becca," He said, looking at the woman, "are headed to Paris." He finished.

Jitters bubbled up in Rebecca's stomach. Marlene Dietrich would have to wait.

"City of light," Welsh exclaimed, grinning at the two.

"That's a 48-hour pass. It's been decided that you both need a little dose of civilization. _Bon voyage_."

Rebecca's heart leaped. She had never been to Paris, and a 48- hour pass sounded wonderful. See the sights, eat some good food, relax; it sounded perfect.

XXX

She rushed out of Dick's office and hastily packed an overnight bag. She grabbed her bag and headed out to find Roe. She needed to tell him where she would be in case of some kind of emergency took place. The only real emergency she could think of at the moment was everyone in Easy contracting a VD simultaneously. But that was a stretch.

It didn't surprise her in the least to find Roe in the aid station, working.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?" Rebecca asked leaning up against the door frame of the aid station.

Rebecca was ecstatic to be leaving for Paris, but the guilt of leaving Roe alone for two days, set in. Trouble was bound to be afoot since many of the men still had ample amounts of free time. Some would be visiting Lulu's like Bill or getting seriously drunk and rowdy. Having the three of them was sometimes not enough.

"You go ahead, Cap'n. Everything will be fine. Spina and I can handle this," Roe replied, scribbling notes on the inventory clipboard, "No one deserves a break more than you."

"Thank you, Roe."

" _Au revoir,"_ Roe smiled.

XXX

Rebecca followed Dick down the train car, dropping their bags on the first open seat they saw. She plopped herself down, running her fingers over the plush car seat, admiring the softness. Butterflies ran through her stomach. Sitting opposite to Dick, Rebecca cracked a toothy grin at him, giddiness taking over.

He let out a soft chuckle. "Someone's excited."

"Very," Rebecca exclaimed.

Rebecca knew her excitement would eventually get the better of her, slowly turning into antsiness and then full blown impatience. Knowing this full and well, Rebecca brought along the letters Vest delivered to her before she departed.

As the train pulled away from the station, Rebecca reached into her bag pulling out two letters from her father. She was a little disappointed to see that Michelle hadn't written, but she understood they had to be busy. Hell, Rebecca hardly got a chance to write either.

She took the letter with the earliest postmark, sliding her fingers across her father's scrawl. It had been a while since she'd heard from him.

 _I hope he's doing okay._

Rebecca tore open the letter and began meticulously reading the letter.

 _Dear Becca,_

 _I read in the papers about Market Garden. How awful that must have been for you and your company! However, knowing you and your tenacity, I know both you and your company will bounce back. I hope you're resting and able to find some time for yourself before you move out again. Anywho, as for me, the doctors finalized my paperwork and I've been approved for the medicine for my liver! As long as I keep sober and continue to listen to the doctors, I will be a-okay. I've also been finding myself clearing out the attic, just to keep busy, and while going through some of your mom's old boxes, I found something that you might like. I believe you gave this to your mom on her first mother's day. I don't know how you managed to pick it out at the time, you were only a year-old! I guess you inherited your mother's taste. I hope this letter finds you well._

 _Love Always,_

 _Daddy_

Rebecca reached inside the enveloped, pulling out the mother-daughter heart shaped cameo by its dainty gold chain. She held the pendant in her hand and stroked the two tiny people that were supposed to represent her and her mother.

Rebecca's felt pain her in the throat as she held back tears. She hadn't seen this necklace in years. It was one of the last items that she had to remember her by. Rebecca turned over the pendant and noticed that the black back had some of her mom's lotion crusted on it. It would've seemed gross to her once, but now it was another reminder of her mother. She laughed, remembering how her mother would always lather up with lotion while getting ready for the day. This was the best thing she had received in a long time.

Without thinking twice, Rebecca unclasped the hook and put the necklace around her neck, placing a hand on her heart where the pendent lied. She closed her eyes, feeling like her mother was right next to her, holding her hand. As her eyes stayed closed, sleep made its way across her eyelids.

Before she knew it, Rebecca slowly opened her eyes, someone jostling her awake.

"Becca, we're here."

The train had come to halt and most of its occupants had emptied out. It was time for Paris.

XXX

Paris was absolutely crawling with American soldiers, sailors, and airmen when Dick and Rebecca stepped out of the train. Members from every branch and many different divisions elbowed past each other trying to get out of the crowded station.

After much pushing and maneuvering through the teeming station and street Rebecca and Dick arrived at the hotel that housed American soldiers on furlough.

Rebecca entered the hotel with Dick through the revolving and door, feeling much refreshed at the change of scenery.

The ten-story hotel had a large lobby with dark wood-paneled walls with intricate carvings, the ceilings were crown mold. Every piece of furniture was part of a matching Victorian era set, white plush chairs and sofas lined by the same dark wood on the walls. Rebecca expected nothing less from the meticulous ways of the French. However, the focal point of the room was no doubt the enormous white marble fireplace with little cherubs carved into the center of the mantel and two identical women on either side holding up vases on the tops of their heads. It was the first thing that drew Rebecca's eye.

Dick and Rebecca walked towards the giant mahogany front desk and received their room keys.

She looked down at the key and wasn't surprised to see that her room number wasn't even on the same floor as Dick's. It appeared that the women were all being held on the bottom floors. Although she highly doubted it would keep the men from coming down to fraternize with the women anyways.

Both made their way to the elevator, each pressing the button that corresponded with what was on their key.

The familiar ding signaling that Rebecca had reached her floor prompted her to adjust her bag around her shoulder. Tiny butterflies erupted in her stomach. She couldn't wait to see her room.

"I'll be by to get you for dinner in an hour or so," Dick said as Rebecca exited the elevator.

She gave a smile to Dick and watched as the doors to the elevator slowly closed, separating the two. Once she heard the gears of the machine moving Dick up towards his floor, Rebecca moved away and began searching for her room. Once found, she pulled out her key, sticking it in the lock and slowly opened the door to her temporary quarters.

Rebecca was more than satisfied with the room the Army so graciously provided. The cream-colored walls and eccentric drapery brought about a warm feel to the room. The furniture was was a dark wood similar to what was in the lobby and provided a nice desk and chair for writing. There was even a large dresser with a tall mirror and an armoire, but those were obviously meant for those who would be staying in the hotel for long periods of time. Rebecca had no problem with living out her bag. What truly brought excitement in her was the large queen sized bed partially shrouded with the same drapes on the windows.

Not wanting to go another minute without feelings the plush mattress under her, Rebecca threw down her bag on the divan at the end of the bed and launched herself onto the mattress. She let out a long moan feeling the bed swallow her up with its fluffy white comforter. Rebecca felt like she could fall asleep right there.

Deciding against it, and taking only one more minute to enjoy her new bed, she crawled out of the waves of blankets and pillows and crossed to the room where the bathroom must be.

Opening the door to the bathroom, Rebecca almost burst into tears. It had been a long time since she had a private bathroom. For the most part, everything was white marble, save for the gorgeous cream and gold wallpaper. What truly made tears well up in her eyes was the large lion's foot tub in the middle of the room.

 _This is going to be the best two days of my life._

Rebecca had planned to take a nap once she discovered the bed, but looking at the welcoming tub made her choose otherwise. She quickly slipped out of her uniform and made way over. As the basin filled up with the steaming hot water, Rebecca slipped in, feeling every ounce of tension she built up from her time in Holland, melt away. She felt like she could spend an eternity under the hot water, soaping up every inch of herself. But, she knew Dick could arrive soon and she wouldn't want to be in the tub still when he came knocking on the door.

Rebecca allowed herself just one more minute under the heat before pulling the drain and stepping out. She grabbed a towel from the table next to the bath and wrapped the white fluffy material around her dripping body. Rebecca exhaled slowly feeling at total ease as she walked out of the steamy bathroom and into the cool bedroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, drying off, feeling the soft covers usher her into sleep, but the loud grumble her stomach let out convinced her otherwise.

After drying off, she let her hair air dry and pretty soon, her characteristically brown curls started to form. It felt amazing letting her hair loose for once. Rebecca's always had such delicate and lovely curls, but since she always had it up in a bun her hair was broken. Sometimes, she thought of cutting it off, but never had the gall to do it. She loved her hair. It always looked so beautiful when it was down and reminded her of her mother. Rebecca had no choice in combat. It was army regulation for a woman, after all, to keep her hair neat, tidy, and out of the way.

Rebecca got dressed and moved over to the mirror on the dresser. She took one look at her hair and sighed. It looked horribly unhealthy. The army didn't provide conditioner, after all.

 _Back up in a bun then._

Rebecca finished pinning up her hair when Dick gently knocked on the door.

"Hey." She greeted, opening the door to him.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

Rebecca nodded and the two made their way out of the hotel. Rebecca didn't know exactly where they were going, so she simply followed Dick. It appeared he had a plan as to where they would be eating that night as he navigated Rebecca through the street and into a nearby restaurant.

The streets were just as packed as the train station was, American military crawling from street end to street end. It was almost hard to imagine how the French could house this many people.

As the small restaurant came into, it was evident they wouldn't be stepping anywhere near the inside. It was just as crowded as the streets. How they managed to secure a table on the patio was a miracle.

Dick pulled out the rickety wooden chair for Rebecca and both took a seat. The chairs and the metal table both wobbled and was much too crowded by other patrons and giant plant pots, but it would have to do. The army didn't exactly give them a list of fine French dining and they couldn't wander around Paris all night looking for a less crowded place to eat.

A waiter approached the table, giving the pair silverware and glasses of water. It was soon revealed he only spoke French as he began asking what the two wanted to drink and eat. Dick and Rebecca both tried to tell him they only spoke English but he just continued to repeat the same question in French. Dick, in a desperate attempt to get the waiter to stop babbling, ended up just pointing to something on the menu and held two fingers implying both of them wanted it.

The waiter scribbling down the order on his pad, eyeing the two and walked away, utterly insulted by the two's attempt order food.

"So, what are you planning on doing tomorrow?" Rebecca asked, trying to forget the ordering fiasco.

Dick took a sip of his water, "I have no idea." He confessed, "What about you?"

"Maybe just relax in my room? I'm not sure either."

It was odd having complete free time. Neither of the two had a moment's rest since Normandy.

After about fifteen minutes of hashing out plans and what to do with their free time, their meals arrived. The same waiter returned, disgust evident on his face for the two captains, as he placed down their plates.

Dick and Rebecca couldn't have possibly expected a good result from just randomly picking something on the menu. Two plates of some kind of pink, squishy, honeycomb looking meat were placed in front of them. Rebecca immediately recognized the dish and felt a mix of dread and humor turn in her.

"Oh, God, Dick, what did you order?"

He looked down at the dish and poked it with his fork, "I don't know, I just pointed to whatever I saw first. Do you know what it is?"

"That's cow stomach. My mom tried to get me to eat it once. It was so bad I spit it out right in front of her."

Dick took his knife and began cutting the tough meat. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

Rebecca watched as he took a piece on his fork and watched his face closely. Dick placed the piece in his mouth, and as soon as it made contact with his tongue his face contorted like he just sucked on a lemon.

"Oh, God," Dick gagged with a mouthful.

"Yeah, not good is it?" She laughed out.

Rebecca had to hand it to him. He did chew and swallow it, even though it looked like he was going to hurl. Once he swallowed, Dick took a big swig of water, trying to get the awful taste from his mouth.

"Wanna get out of here?" He suggested.

It didn't take Rebecca a second thought to agree. Dick reached in his pocket and threw a large amount of money on the table and both quickly left. They scurried off the patio laughing like a couple of giddy teens.

"That poor waiter," Rebecca laughed.

The two laughed and laughed as they had just witnessed the funniest thing ever when in reality it was actually quite mundane. Seeing Dick laughing was nice. It had been a while.

"So," Dick said still catching his breath, "What now?"

"We could just walk around, see the sights. There's plenty of food stands we could eat at," Rebecca suggested.

Dick and Rebecca decided on the Arc de Triomphe then the Eiffel Tower. Both walked together enjoying each others company. On their way to the Arc, they found a hot sandwich stand to eat at.

It was well into the evening when Dick and Rebecca got to the Arc, but the fluorescent lights lit up the world around them, the Eiffel Tower sat in the distance like a beacon, beckoning people to its glowing beauty.

Soon, the two had run out of things to talk about, they just gravitated towards the Arc. It wasn't too long ago this monument and Paris was crawling with Nazis. How much difference a few months makes.

After marveling at the Arc, they arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Rebecca couldn't help but gaze up at its beauty. Pictures didn't do the vast tower any justice. You had to be there to appreciate its splendor.

"It's huge, nothing like the pictures! It's beautiful." She beamed.

"Yeah, it is," Dick agreed.

Rebecca looked back at him with wonder in her eyes. It was something Dick had never seen before. The light from the tower seemed to radiate off every inch of her, every tendril of her loose hair. Her eyes absolutely sparkled.

Dick Winters didn't know what drew him towards Rebecca, but his legs took on a mind of their own and suddenly, got surprisingly close to her. At first, Rebecca didn't know what to think but when her dark brown eyes met with his blue ones both knew what was about to happen, but neither stopped. Their transfixed eyes that usually echoed friendship was replaced with passion. They drifted closer and closer to each other; Rebecca wrapped her arms around Dick's shoulders and he around her waist. Then ever so slowly, their lips met.

Neither of them had been expecting it, but it felt so natural, so right. They pulled apart and looked at each other with half lidded eyes on ecstasy, only to meet again for another kiss.

Dick pulled Rebecca into a hug and the two were filled with a kind of affection both officers hadn't felt in a while.

Rebecca felt safe and loved for the first time in a while. She became overcome with so many different emotions at once.

"Can we just hold each other for the rest of our lives?" Rebecca asked, tears filling her eyes.

XXX

Dick and Rebecca were on a blissful high that carried them all the way back to their rooms. Reality hadn't set in yet.

Dick walked Rebecca back to her hotel, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek before he left. Neither of them felt like they had to take things any further, neither one pressed the other to.

Rebecca closed the door behind her, still not processing what had just happened. She had needed this deep connection with a human being for so long. She never knew how long she ached for it, she loved him. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was always him. From the moment Rebecca met Dick she felt something special.

Rebecca walked over to her bed lying down on it, letting the ecstasy fade away.

Before she even had time to think about what happened, there was a knock on her door. Rebecca rose from her comfortable bed and walked over to the door.

She couldn't really say she was surprised when she saw Dick on the other side of the door.

He looked positively nervous, thumbing his cap between his thumbs, anxiously.

"Uh, Dick, what are you doing here?"

Dick sort of just stared at her, at a loss of words.

"Um, I-I, well I-." He continued struggling to find the words.

Rebecca grinned slightly as she witnessed the proud captain fumble over his words. However, her heart was racing. She knew deep down inside why he was knocking on her door after just saying goodnight.

"Would you like to come in?"

He only nodded in response. Once he was in her room, Dick sat down on the divan looking at his feet.

"So?" Rebecca questioned.

Dick stood up again, a bit of confidence rising in him as he inched closer to her. "I don't normally do this sort of thing but I just can't get our kiss out of my head." He nearly whispered.

Rebecca's heart began to race even more as Dick grew closer to getting what he had come to her room for. She walked to him until they were but inches from each other. Rebecca couldn't wait any longer as she met his eyes and gently pushed him back to the divan again until he was sitting on it. As she continued to lock her eyes on his, a deep look of desire fell over his eyes. It wasn't long before she straddled his lap with her legs and then, ever so slowly their lips met.

The passion that was in their first kiss was replaced with a raw, yearning lust for one another. Dick wrapped his arms around her waist, his hands going up and down her back as the kiss continued. They only stopped for air.

As their kiss picked up the pace and grew more needy, Dick grabbed up the young woman and headed for the bed. He sat her down gently on the soft bed and both of them began fumbling with the other's clothes, desperate to take them off.

Neither of the two thought about what they were doing. Instead, they let pure carnality and intimacy take them over.

As Rebecca finished unbuckling Dick's belt on his jacket, she began racing to get the buttons undone. Meanwhile, Dick did the same to her's.

Dick's jacket soon met the floor prompting Rebecca to pull apart his tie, then unbutton his class A blouse which was finally followed by his white T-shirt, all becoming but a pile on the ground. Rebecca stared at Dick's toned chest and stomach, skimming her delicate fingers over its muscly surface, admiring the man before her. He soon became aware that Rebecca was still wearing far too many clothes and hastily began working on her top area and then started working her skirt off. All articles of her clothing quickly met the carpet as Dick continued working on the rest of her clothes. Once he finally laid her down on the bed, all that remained on her was undergarments which were quickly taken off, followed by the rest of Dick's clothes.

Finally, after burying their feelings for each other for so long, the two became one that night. It felt so right to both of them that neither realized such actions have consequences.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** So, I know this chapter was pretty intense and trust me, I have never written anything like this before. However, I really wanted these two to end up together and having them be intimate really makes things interesting in Bastogne. I know because this fanfiction deals with real people, it crosses new territory and I do not want to disrespect anyone of the men in this story, however, I feel that this wasn't too explicit. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please let me know. There is more to come from our star-crossed lovers! :3


	22. Chapter 22 - Recovery to Relapse

Last Time: Rebecca and Dick give into their desires.

"It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do." - Moliere

Now: Rebecca and Dick must push their feelings for one another aside as they go back into the fray.

* * *

 **Chapter 22 - Recovery to Relapse**

Dick woke up the next morning, rolling over to see his beloved sleeping soundly next to him. He recalled what had occurred last night and began smiling a toothy grin as he saw Rebecca's chest rise and fall as she slept.

Dick looked at her, admiring the curves of her waist and the cascade of stunning brown curls on the pillow next to her as Rebecca continued her silent sleep on her side. Rebecca's face looked so peaceful, so stunningly beautiful, and Dick wondered to himself why it took him so long to realize all of it until now. He lifted up his hand and gently brushed Rebecca's face ever so gently with his thumb, not wanting to disturb her.

He smiled again as her face twitched to the touch, but she continued to sleep.

Dick rolled back onto his back, his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling of the room. The more he thought about last night, the more he smiled. Dick closed his eyes, in an attempt to let sleep find him once more.

Then, cold hard reality set it in.

Dick's eyes snapped open.

As she came down from her high, all of a sudden cold hard reality set in.

A romantic relationship between a commanding officer and someone under his command was improper, out of many other things. If they were to get caught, Dick could be court-martialed and Rebecca could be thrown out of the Airborne all together.

Dick felt numb all of a sudden as he laid in the bad. His stomach dropped and a wave of nausea overtook her.

 _What have I done?_

There was a war going on and both of them had a mission to accomplish. How could they have let this happen? The consequences were too severe. Dick sat up quickly, panic setting in.

He loved her, he always had, but this could never work. Not without keeping it from everyone, and they were bound to get caught eventually. Their jobs, their livelihoods were placed in jeopardy. Dick's reputation was on the line and he was the battalion XO for Christ's sake. The men looked up to him. What would they think if word got out of him being in a scandalous relationship?

As Dick sat up, a sleepy Rebecca arose from her slumber.

"Dick, everything okay?" She asked, rubbing her sleepy brown eyes.

Dick laid back down, slowly and kissed Rebecca on her soft lips.

XXX

Rebecca sat with Dick outside of a quaint cafe, enjoying a light breakfast and some coffee. She put two sugar cubes in her coffee and while she stirred, she looked at Dick. Last night for her meant so much more than just sex. For the first time in a while, she felt loved and Dick made her feel like she was the only woman in the war. The more she looked back at their time together, she couldn't believe it took her so long to realize how much she loved him. Granted, Rebecca had never been in a committed relationship before, but Dick felt like the one. Rebecca felt like she could spend the rest of her life with him, once the war was over at least. She was falling in love right there while she stirred sugar into her coffee.

Although, Dick looked like something was on his mind. "Rebecca, I need to talk to you about something."

Rebecca sensed Dick's demeanor. She straightened up in her chair and put down her cup of coffee.

"Yes?"

She looked at Dick as he shuffled uncomfortably in his chair and failed to make eye contact with her.

"About last night." His voice trailed off.

Rebecca's heart sank. She knew what he was about to say but she had hoped that it just wouldn't come up. Her foolish love-struck heart just hoped that they could make it work. But, the more Rebecca thought about in that microsecond Dick brought it up, the more she realized this was insane.

"Oh." Rebecca only managed to croak out.

"Yes, yes. About last night. We can't act like it didn't happen."

Dick was right. It would be foolish to act as nothing happened. Trying to ignore it and their feelings could ruin their friendship and make any further interaction uncomfortable.

"Of course not," Rebecca paused and sighed. "Listen, Dick, last night, I hadn't felt that way in a long time, not since high school even. I get it, you're Battalion XO and having a relationship with someone under your command is just asking for trouble. You could be court-martialed or worse and I would be sent home. There's nothing really keeping me here. I'm not as important to the company as you are."

Dick grabbed Rebecca's hand and looked at her seriously. "Rebecca, don't you dare say that! You're just as important to the company as anyone. Do you remember how horrible Bull and Johnny Martin felt when you were attacked? They wailed on that prisoner until someone had to pull them off."

Rebecca recalled the aftermath of her attack and how stunned everyone was in Easy when they saw what had happened to her. Someone came to visit Rebecca almost every single day to check up on her and make sure she was comfortable. The boys were practically at her every beck and call, Bull and Martin especially. Rebecca knew they cared about her, but she was certain the people were in charge didn't and were probably waiting for her to slip up.

"I know, I know, but there's so much more to lose for me than you."

Dick frowned when he realized what Rebecca said had some truth to it. Making a huge mistake like, for example, being in a relationship with someone in the company, would wind up with far more serious consequences than if she was a man.

"So, how do we do this?" Dick asked.

"We'll just go back to the way things were before. We have a job to do here. We can't let personal feelings get in the way."

"Absolutely. So, friends?"

"Nothing more," Rebecca confirmed, sadly smiling.

Rebecca knew what was inside her heart. It pained her to have things go back to normal. But there was no place for love in war. She bit her lip in a desperate attempt to keep the tears inside.

"Well, okay then."

Dick picked up his coffee and took a sip but right as he did, someone bumped into his chair, throwing him forward a bit.

"I'm going to go back to my hotel room. I just want to be alone for a bit." Rebecca said, standing up and pushing in her chair.

"I'll go with you," Dick offered, about to stand.

"No, I really just need to be alone, please." Rebecca looked at Dick, the tears welling in her eyes.

He saw that she was visibly upset and killed Dick that he couldn't comfort Rebecca the way he wanted to.

"O-okay. I'm sorry. I'll see you when we board the train then."

XXX

Once Rebecca got back to her room and the door closed behind her, she didn't hesitate to let the tears flow.

She had to be strong for them both and push her feelings down into the deepest confines of her heart where they wouldn't hurt her anymore. Rebecca had to.

XXX

Dick and Rebecca came back in Mourmelon just in time to catch the movie being shown in the projection room. Rebecca however, wasn't too thrilled to find out it was Seven Sinners again; which she had seen about ten times already. The army had a very limited supply of movies so it wasn't uncommon for them to replay the same ones over and over.

As they entered the movie house, Rebecca thought for sure she saw the huge silhouette of Buck sitting in the back of the movie house. Dick and Rebecca sat down behind the towering figure, and sound out, sure enough, it was Buck.

"Hey, Buck. How are you feeling? Your wounds heal, all four of them?" Dick asked.

"Hiya, blue eyes. How's your tush?"

Buck just stared blankly at the screen, not responding or even seeming to register to Dick and Rebecca's attempts to communicate with him.

"You seen this before?" Dick asked again trying to pry something out of the man.

Buck still didn't respond. The more Rebecca looked at him, the more she understood and it made her heart sink. Buck had to have some gruesome stuff while in the hospital. Getting injured in the field was like going from one horror to another. Field hospitals were filthy and downright scary. Men could often be heard screaming in pain because of the lack of proper medication and anesthetics. Nurses and doctors did what they could to improve conditions, but it was still a grisly and disturbing atmosphere. Buck was one of Rebecca's closest friends; he was always so outgoing and funny. Now, it was Buck's his soul was torn and haphazardly stitched back together.

Dick nudged Buck trying to get him to respond, "Buck."

"Hey." He rasped out, finally noticing the two.

"Is it any good?" Dick wondered, still asking about the movie.

"Uh, yeah. It's a real corker." He said.

Dick and Rebecca exchanged worried looks to each other. Buck was there physically, but not mentally. Dick sat back in his chair eyeing Buck curiously. Rebecca still wanted to get a little more out of him.

"Buck, you didn't go AWOL just so you could come back to Easy, did you?" She joked.

Rebecca waited for his response: nothing. Buck had zoned out again. She sighed, leaning back in the chair.

 _Dammit._ She scolded under her breath.

Rebecca looked at the screen and waited for Marlene Dietrich's famous line "Got a penny." and laughed to herself as she heard Luz absolutely butcher the line and repeat it several times before Marlene herself even said it. Rebecca understood Luz's sentiment; he had seen the movie a dozen times like herself and rather than let others enjoy it, he would entertain himself by annoying others with his commentary.

Before the movie could even continue, the theatre house suddenly flooded with light and the projection paused right on poor Marlene. The men in room groused and complained as the two Army technicians barged into the house, marching up the aisle.

"Quiet!" One shouted.

"C'mon," Luz whined, "You can't do that to the Duke!"

"I said, quiet!"

The two men made it up to the podium, ready to deliver some important message. It had better be, the men in the theatre were pretty upset about them cutting off the good 'ol Duke.

"Elements of the 1st and the 6th SS Panzer Division have broken through the Ardennes Forest," One technician began, "Now, they've overrun the 28th Infantry and elements of the 4th. All officers report to respective HQs. All passed are canceled."

The room broke out into even louder roars of petulance.

"Enlisted men report to barracks and your platoon leaders." The technician yelled over the commotion.

The theatre filed out until Buck, Dick, and Rebecca were the only ones that remained. They both waited for Buck to get up and follow them out. He did, ever so slowly.

Rebecca was panicked. Easy had no idea how long they had to gather weapons, ammo, and supplies. Right now, Rebecca's, Roe's, and Spina's main focus were to gather what they could for medical supplies. Much to their dismay, there was hardly anything. All supplies like bandages, morphine, or plasma were what was left over from Holland; that was not much.

XXX

Rebecca was thrown into disarray. The company only had 24-hours to gather what they needed. The only ammunition the men had was what was left in Holland and some didn't even have helmets. Easy wasn't at 100% yet and to make matters worse, their winter issue of clothes hasn't arrived, even K-rations were short.

Rebecca was running around camp like a chicken with her head cut off trying to gather what she needed, but also to make sure Easy had what they needed.

"Gather any warm items you can. I don't care if you strip the goddamn beds, just find something!"

She had made her way into all of the barracks ordering the men to gather as much as they could. Rebecca eventually made it into the sergeant's barracks to talk to Lip. All the sergeants in the barracks were hastily moving around gathering what they could find.

"Lipton, I need to gather more medical supplies. Could you make your way around the barracks and see what the men have for winters clothes?"

"Ma'am, what about you?" Lipton reminded.

Rebecca realized she hadn't even given a second glance at herself; she was far more focused on getting the men ready than herself.

"I'll worry about myself later. Just, please, make your way around the barracks and check on the men." Rebecca insisted, a new worry taking over her.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rebecca quickly made her way to her own quarters to pack. She burst into her room, grabbing her bag and began her hasty packing. When her room was sufficiently stripped, Rebecca grabbed the wool blanket on her bed, took out her scissors from her med bag and cut the blanket in a strip. It would make a perfect scarf. She wrapped up the rest of the itchy material and packed it into her bag.

On her way out the door, Rebecca remembered; she had a stash of francs from her trip to Paris. Rebecca glanced at her watch. They had a few more hours before they needed to load the trucks. She bounded out of the rooms and down the stairs and ran to the nearest jeep.

Rebecca only had to walk just outside her quarters until she found a lone jeep parked in the front. Thankfully, the keys were in it already. The jeep started up with a sputter, probably affected by the cold too. The owner of the jeep was SOL for a while, this was an emergency. Rebecca put it in gear and headed towards the sergeant's barracks again.

"Lipton!" She bellowed, bursting into the door.

Lipton glanced up from what he was doing. "Yes, Captain?"

"You check the other barracks?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, get me Malarkey and Guarnere."

Lipton looked at her curiously at first, but when he saw the conviction in her eye, he yelled for them both.

"Malark, where's Guarnere?" Lip asked.

"With his squad. Why?"

"Malark, I'm taking up a collection of money. The four of us are going to go the surplus to get whatever winter clothes we can find."

Malarkey reached into his pocket and pulled out some loose change. "This is all I have left."

Lipton took the money, "What about all that dough you made at craps?"

"I already deposited the money with the fiscal officer." He sighed.

"It doesn't matter," Rebecca began, "We'll get more."

The three of them exited the barracks and split up. Before finding Guarnere, they each made their way to the remaining huts, ordering for the men to give up their francs. Some did it with a little reluctance, but when they explained it was for winter clothes, they forked over whatever they had.

Lipton gave Rebecca and Malark a pen and paper to jot down each man's name and what they wanted to buy with their money. Rebecca had about twenty names. The three met up to fetch Guarnere. When they found him, he was ordering his squad around, trying to get them to gather what they could.

"Guarnere!," Rebecca yelled, "Guarnere, come here!"

Guarnere met Rebecca's eyes and paced over to her, Lip, and Malarkey.

"What's up, Captain?"

"Tell your men to give over whatever money they have. We're collecting it to get winter clothes. Whatever they want with the money, tell them to find us so we can write it down."

He quickly nodded and jogged off.

Guarnere entered the barracks again, and within no time, a group of men came out with their money and requests for clothes. Everything Rebecca, Lip, Guarnere, and Malark could think of was on the list. The four loaded up the jeep lickety-split and drove to the surplus store on base.

They entered the store like a whirlwind, dumping whole shelves full of socks, scarves, hats, and mitts into wooden crates. The clerk behind the register was yelling at them in French probably thinking they were robbing the place. Rebecca, Lip, Guarnere, and Malark dumped all the money they collected on the clerk's counter. He looked up at them in amazement. It was probably far too much money for what they were buying.

"God bless America!" He sang out. The clerk continued to babble appreciation in French.

"We ready to go?" Lip asked.

"One more thing." Rebecca ran to the back of the store, snagged a thick winter trench coat from the rack, and put it on. "Let's go."

Rebecca drove like a mad woman back to base, going well over the speed limit. No one with her cared. Time was ticking and they would be left behind if they didn't hurry. She parked near her quarters where she hijacked the jeep from. With the help of all three men, they began unloading their loot. Guarnere, Lip, and Malarkey went into all the barracks yelling for everyone to come out and collect what they ordered.

By the time everyone had taken what they bought, there was some left over for the four of them to take. Lip took what he wanted, followed by Guarnere and Malarkey. Even after they got what they wanted, their was still a few items left for Rebecca. She snagged a beanie and some mitts. Whatever was left, she took with her. She wrapped her handmade scarf around her tightly and buttoned her jacket all the way up. Boy, she was happy she had the hat to go under her helmet. The metal from it became so cold it was almost painful to touch.

Rebecca made her way over to the where the men were loading up, crate in hand. She made her way over to the jeeps where the officers were loading up.

"Becca, there you are," Nix worried, "Where the hell have you been?"

Nixon eyed the crate she was carrying curiously.

"A couple of men I did a little shopping." She showed the crate to Nix, displaying whatever was left to take.

"Holy shit, where did you get that from?" Nix ogled, taking a pair of gloves and a scarf.

"It doesn't matter, just take what you need. I still have to give some to Buck, Harry, and Dick."

"Jesus, Becca, you're a lifesaver. They're over here."

Nixon guided her over to where Dick and Buck were.

"Dick!" She called trying to get his attention, "Buck!" Rebecca made it over to him. Much to her expectation, Dick was calm.

"Becca, what'ca got there?"

She presented the crate to them both. "Couldn't have you guys freezing to death out there."

Buck took what he wanted. Dick took the scarf and gloves with much appreciation. "What would I-I mean we, do without you?" Dick stuttered correcting himself.

Rebecca blushed, "There's some in there for Harry."

"I'll give them to him."

Dick, Buck, and Rebecca began walking to look for Harry when Lt. Peacock came out of nowhere.

"Sir?"

"Lieutenant Peacock?" Dick answered.

"Sir, have you seen Colonel Strayer?"

"Where's the company commander?" Dick asked.

"Oh, Lieutenant Dike? I've been looking for him all day."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. It was typical Dike fashion to disappear when his men needed him the most. She hoped that he already had some winter clothes because she really didn't want to give any to him. It seemed childish but Dike was simply not a good leader. Plus, he always had a problem taking orders from her. Rebecca was sure it had everything to do with her being a woman and a higher rank than him. She wasn't even too crazy about Peacock or Shames. The officers commanding Easy were seriously lackluster, and Easy took a serious disliking to them. None of them shared Harry's or Dick's philosophy: leading in the front. None of them could read a map, and all of them had their own problems that made them poor leaders.

"I mean, how is it that the 4th Army's problem gets dumped on the Airborne?" Peacock continued.

Peacock lead them over to an oil drum that was being used as a fire pit. Dick wrapped the scarf around him and put his gloves on, listening to Peacock.

"Well, that's because," Buck began, but was interrupted by Foxhole Norman himself, who decided now was a good time to grace them with his presence.

"Lieutenant Peacock, Lieutenant Compton. Captain Winters, Captain Clark," Dike began, giving Rebecca and Dick a quick salute.

"Oh, Lieutenant Dike, I've been looking for you," Dick began.

Dike approached the group totally underdressed. Rebecca knew however that he probably had a stockpile of clothes for himself somewhere. Dike was very good at providing for himself first before his company.

"Sir, we have a problem," Dike informed.

Rebecca couldn't help but roll her eyes. Dike's problems were never as momentous as he made them out to be. Plus, he was always good at making a mountain out of a molehill instead of worrying about the bigger problems.

"Colonel Strayer has not yet returned from some wedding he's attending in London. Can you believe that? We're going to the front here, and out CO isn't even in the same damn country."

"You have a bigger problem Lt. Dike. You have men returning to action without proper cold weather clothing and not enough ammo." Dick quipped.

"Sir?" Dike puzzled.

"I suggest you take a canvas of the entire base. Get what materials you have before you roll out. Or have you done that already?" Dick asked.

"No, sir."

"K-rations, as many as you can scrounge. We don't know if we're going to be resupplied or not."

"Yes, sir."

"I also suggest finding any medical supplies you can find," Rebecca urged.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What about ammo?" Peacock asked.

"There is no more ammo. Distribute it among the men as best you can so, at least everybody has something," Dick ordered.

"Yes, sir," Dike said, "Lt. Compton, Lt. Peacock, inform Lt. Shames of the situation. Get all your platoons as best equipped as you can, and then report back here to me, Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Buck answered.

Dike dismissed himself leaving just Dick and Rebecca.

"Dick," Rebecca began, "Roe, Spina, and I scrounged everywhere for medical supplies, but we're still short."

Dick sighed, "We'll just have to make due for now. How many medkits and morphine?"

"One crate full." She worried.

"Whatever we have, we'll manage."

"The men are walking into slaughter," Rebecca seethed.

"We're doing the best we can," Dick muttered.

"Mount up!" Someone bellowed.

Dick and Rebecca loaded on a jeep with Nix. She finally took the time to put her mitts on and warm up some. The jeep was in between two trucks holding some of the Easy guys. From the looks of it, the trucks had no benches and the men were packed in like sardines. Judging by the way they were thrown about by every curve and bump, the trucks had no springs either. They looked cold and miserable. At last, the trucks made it the Belgian border and trucks carrying the 101st stopped a few kilometers outside Bastogne.

The men jumped out the trucks, what they called a tailgate jump, stretched, relieved themselves, and smoked whatever cigarettes they had. Rebecca saw some guys filling ditches in the ground with gasoline and lighting them up. _Good._ She thought to herself. The guys needed to stay warm.

Nix, Dick, and Rebecca hopped out of the jeep, ready to meet Col. Sink and be briefed. Nixon ordered the jeep to stay put and the three of them found Sink.

"Welcome to Belgium," Sink sarcastically greeted, "This area's known as Bastogne. Strategic crossroads town. Seven roads leading in, seven roads leading out, which makes it ideal for Kraut armor."

Dick took out a pen and paper to jot down what Sink was saying, Nix studied the map, and Rebecca just listened.

"Now," Sink continued, "Ike wants to make sure that the Krauts can't use those roads, so we're going to set up a perimeter around Bastogne, dig in tight as a tick. 2nd Battalion will be deployed over here to the east, in this wooded area," Sink informed, pointing at the map.

Behind the group Col. Strayer appeared, having just made it. "Thank God, barely made it."

"Better get yourself OD's, Bob," Sink responded.

"Okay." He said walking away.

"First Battalion's to the north on your left flank, 3rd Battalion's in reserve," Sink hastily finished, entering his jeep.

"Andy, let's roll." He ordered to his driver.

"Sir," Nix began, "We're a little short on ammunition."

"How short?"

"There was a limited supply in camp, sir," Dick replied.

"Cap'n, you beg, borrow, or steal ammo, but you defend this area," Sink ordered, getting into his jeep.

"Yes, sir," Nix and Dick said, saluting.

"Captain Clark, see to the men. How are you fixed for medical supplies?"

"We are grossly low, sir," Rebecca admitted.

"Find what you can. It will be a while before we're resupplied."

"Yes, sir." She fretted, saluting.

Rebecca parted ways with Nix and Dick to find her company, ready to scrounge for supplies. As she approached the hoard of men, Rebecca caught sight of soldiers moving the other direction. They were banged up and walking down the road in retreat. Walking wounded would be putting it lightly, walking dead was more fitting.

"Jesus Christ," Babe stammered.

They were all leaving where Easy would soon be going, Bastogne. Rebecca weaved through the crowd trying to find familiar faces. She found Babe, Guarnere, and Malark in utter shock, watching the procession of soldier limp away in defeat.

"Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Guarnere yelled.

"Hey, pal, hey, pal," Guarnere said trying to stop a trooper, "Hey, pal, hey, pal, what happened," No one stopped until he pulled a man over. "Where the hell are you going?"

"They came out of nowhere, they slaughtered us," A beat up trooper said, "You gotta get outta here."

Rebecca felt her heart lump in her throat.

"We just got here," Babe blurted, confused.

"Gimme your ammo," Guarnere demanded, "C'mon."

The trooper took off his musette bag, handing it over to Bill. "Take it, you'll need it."

"Spread the word around, I want everyone taking something from these guys, weapons, ammo, rations, and medkits, now!" Rebecca ordered.

"You got it, Cap'n," Guarnere resounded.

More guys began pilfering the retreating men for supplies. Rebecca got a crate from the back of a truck and began collecting medkits, morphine, and ammo from them.

"Hey, you," Rebecca barked, stopping a jeep with medics on it, "Gimme the supplies you got."

They gave her what they had, as little as it was and moved forward. Rebecca ordered more men to grab crates and boxes and have the wounded fork over whatever owned, even coats and hats.

The sight of the wounded was very disconcerting and unnerved Rebecca immensely.

 _What the hell are we getting ourselves into?_

A jeep making its way up the road, honking away prompted Rebecca to follow. She followed it over to the edge of the road. "Make a hole! Hey, make a hole! I got ammo, grab what you can!"

"Lieutenant, you're a godsend!" Nix proclaimed, making his way over with Dick. "What's the situation?"

"Well," Lt. Rice began, "I heard you guys were coming in. There was an ammo dump, so, here."

More guys came over unpacking to help unpack the jeep.

"Is it just you guys and the 101st?"

"Looks like," Dick responded.

"What hit you, fellas?" Someone asked.

"Everything," The Lt. stated, "The Krauts had tiger, panthers, S.P.s, Stukers, and infantry that just kept coming."

"What's your name, Lieutenant?" Winters asked.

"George Rice, 10th Armour."

"Good work, son."

Rebecca hoped maybe he had some medical supplies and K-rations, but that chance was short. She glanced around the jeep's trunk bed and wasn't too surprised to find out she was right.

"You got any mortar rounds, sir? We're real short." Skip asked.

"Well, I'll try to make another ammo run if I can, but don't count on anything," Rice said, entering his jeep, "A panzer division's about to cut the road south. Looks like you guys are gonna be surrounded."

"We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded," Dick reassured.

"Good luck," Rice uttered before leaving.

Easy loaded up whatever Lt. Rice brought them and began moving into the woods near Bastogne. Caught with their pants down, Ike decided to use the paratroopers to plug the holes in the lines and hold Bastogne. The 506th dug in east of Bastogne, the Bois Jacques. The lines were thin and they had a lot of ground to cover. Rebecca could hear of heavy firefight coming from the north.

Trouble was coming and they were seriously unprepared. No one knew what to expect or what to tell the men to prepare for. But, Easy and the 101st were trained for this. A mid-March action was not to be. Easy Company would be engaged in the biggest, desperate, and bloodiest battles in army history. Hitler was giving all he had left for this very battle. It would be hell on earth.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry this chapter is so short but I hope you guys like it. The recent feedback I've been getting has been amazing and I appreciate it so much! Things about are to get crazy for Easy and Rebecca and I can't wait to share it with you all. School is starting to wind down for me but I'm still going to try my best to get chapters out to ya'll. Thanks for sticking around all this time! :3


	23. Chapter 23 - Struggle

Last Time: Rebecca and Dick push down their issues as Easy Company gets pulled to the frontlines of Bastogne.

"We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it." - Robert Baden-Powell

Now: Easy Company begins the fight of their lives as they are attacked from all sides and by mother nature, herself.

* * *

 **Chapter 23 - Struggle**

On arrival, 2d Battalion was deployed on the line south of Foy; it was one part of defending all of Bastogne. Easy was positioned in the woods that overlooked Foy and dug their foxholes in the frozen ground to form a Main Line of Resistance. Battalion HQ was set up behind the company to the south of the woods.

The Germans had cut the roads behind them, completely surrounding the 101st. They had been there two days and a heavy fog set in making it impossible to see past the MLR. The cold was bitter with a wind that couldn't be broken up even by the tall pine trees.

The 101st was constantly on the defense trying to keep their position from the Krauts and the Krauts were constantly trying to spot any weakness in their line by shelling them with Nebelwerfers. This new German weapon was a rocket launcher equipped with six barrels that launched 75-pound shells. The men called them Screaming Mimi's because of the ear piercing screech they let off before they hit. Those eerie screams were the only thing signifying their arrival.

As if being shelled constantly by the Krauts wasn't bad enough, the weather was a second enemy that seemed undefeatable. Fog and the snow made it impossible for air drops to resupply Easy. Every time they would call for an airdrop, the planes would miss the DZ and give the Germans all their supplies. The weather was bitter cold, plummeting to the negatives most of the time.

The men were cold and wet, from sitting in snow covered holes, making illnesses rampant; the lack thereof of medication couldn't be distributed by medics. Those who were sick had to grin and bear. Rebecca found herself unable to ration out any medicine for the sick and it broke her heart.

A culmination of all the above made a perfect formula for sleep deprivation. Everyone was too afraid to fall asleep at night or it was just too damn cold. The Germans took a liking to shelling at night. The lack of K-rations left everyone hungry. Tensions were high and morale was at an all-time low.

Bastogne was a nightmare of cold, hunger, exhaustion and fear that for many didn't seem to have an end in sight.

XXX

Roe and Rebecca walked through the soft snow, hands shoved deep in their pockets, trying desperately to warm their frozen appendages. Rebecca felt a little more warmth than Roe thanks to her wool gloves, but sadly, Roe was short his pair after a shelling last night blew them to all hell and creation. A cold gust of wind blew past the two, cutting right through their jackets, giving goosebumps another excuse to bubble on their skin.

The snow crunched under their boots as the two medics searched for more supplies. Despite the medkits, they scrounged two days earlier, and what they got back in Mourmelon, they were already short. Casualties were through the roof from the onslaught of shelling Easy took. There was hardly enough to patch a papercut.

Rebecca watched curiously as Roe stopped and bent down to examine something in the snow, pricking his finger on a thorn of a dead bush. He seethed at the sharp pain and squeezed his finger letting his warm blood pool up at the tip.

"Roe, what's up?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"Nothing, just thought I saw something."

Roe got up from his crouch and continued along with Rebecca, both chattering and shaking as they went.

The further the two got, the denser the fog became. They were getting lost. Lost was one thing you didn't want to be out here. The fog made it impossible to tell where they were wandering off to and it was very easy to walk into the enemy's line.

"Roe, where the hell are we?" Rebecca's hair stood up on the back of her neck.

"I don't know, 3rd Battalion should be right around here somewhere."

"Roe, we both know how thin the line is, and I think we're lost."

"Captain, I swear we'll be there soon." He begged, sincerity in his voice.

Rebecca felt her heartstrings tug a little bit. Roe was giving her that desperate puppy dog voice. She was powerless when he broke that one out.

"Okay, just a little further." She agreed.

The need for medical supplies was desperate after all.

They marched a few more feet. The wind began to pick up, cutting through Rebecca again, despite having a heavy wool trench coat on. She hiked her shoulders up far enough so the brim of the jacket was covering her nose. Rebecca buried her head way down letting the heat from her breath warm her insides. She followed Roe's footsteps, praying they would find 3d soon.

Roe's footsteps suddenly halted deceiving Rebecca into believing they had finally arrived. She was wrong.

"We there?" She asked, looking up.

Rebecca's breath hitched and a wave of panic washed over her. They had traveled much too far out. The ground was littered with dead German corpses frozen stiff. A ghastly bluish-gray color had set in on their faces from livor mortis and a thin sheet of frost covering them, making the corpses look like porcelain dolls. They were on the German's side of the line.

"We gotta get out of here, quietly," Rebecca whispered, putting emphasis on "quietly".

They slowly turned around and began walking back, breaking out into a sprint as they cleared a set of pine trees.

"Jesus, that was too close for comfort," Rebecca gasped, feeling the icy air pierce her lungs.

"Yeah, definitely. We should be getting back to our side," Roe said between chattering teeth.

At long last, they had wandered back to CP. Rebecca and Roe calmly staggered over, ready to find their foxhole, adrenaline finally wearing off.

A helmet came into view, breaking the fog that Rebecca recognized as Dick's. He was about to begin shaving when he noticed them come into view. But, Dick was pulled from their attention at the sound of a twig snap. Rebecca didn't know what it was but Dick stiffened.

 _Not good._

"Duck, duck, duck!" Dick whisper-yelled out to them.

Roe and Rebecca ducked down, hearts pounding, adrenaline kicking in again. Both were wondering what it was Dick saw. Rebecca squinted, vaguely making out a figure in the distance. It was too hard to tell. The fog was too thick.

Dick put down his shaving kit, face full of cream, grabbed his rifle and signaled for the two of them to come over to his foxhole. He aimed his rifle at the unknown figure. It must have been a German who wandered too far past their line.

In the foxhole, Rebecca vaguely saw the figure crouch down and remove his pants, ready to relieve himself. The guy probably didn't even know he was in enemy territory. However, Rebecca knew how easy it was to do from her own personal encounter. They were lucky they didn't end up like this German surely would.

" _Kommen sie hier,"_ Dick ordered calmly.

The figure looked at their direction not moving, knowing he had _literally_ been caught with his pants down.

" _Kommen sie hier, schnell!"_ Winters ordered sternly, his rifle pressed firmly to his cheek, " _Schnell!"_

The German began pulling up his pants and walking over to them, one hand up in surrender, the other holding his pants. He approached them nice and easy. Rebecca hoped he wouldn't try to pull any funny business and get himself shot. From what she could see, he was a young kid, no need for him to die unnecessarily.

"Roe, go fetch some guys from Battalion HQ."

Roe complied, scurrying off.

Rebecca looked at the young man, a little sympathy crept its way into her heart. He looked like a teenager, a baby. His eyes met hers, clearly panicked. Rebecca didn't think he recognized her as a woman at first. When he did, his eyes widened with realization and morphed into begging orbs like Rebecca was his mama and him her child who had just been caught doing something bad. It was like he was begging her not to do punish him. Rebecca looked down into the snow unable to stand another minute of looking into the boy's eyes. She knew she shouldn't, but she almost felt bad for the kid. He should be in school, not fighting a war.

Soon enough, two fellas from HQ arrived and accompanied Winters, their rifles drawn in case the prisoner tried to pull something. Rebecca doubted it though, he was far too scared to pull something stupid like that.

Dick began searching the fear-stricken German. After looking through all his outside pockets, Dick reached in and pulled out a little book with a picture of his family confirming Rebecca's suspicion. He wasn't even old enough to have a sweetheart.

Dick continued to search the young boy's pockets until he came across a package wrapped with twine. He quickly examined it.

"Docs, bandage." He announced, tossing the package to Roe, not breaking his icy stare he had fixated on the German.

Roe took the small package, stuffing it into his medbag.

"Take him back to regiment," Dick ordered sternly, tugging on the kid's jacket, fixing it.

The MP's walked away, guiding the prisoner at gunpoint to the jeep, and loading him in. As is this wasn't enough action for one morning, another one pulled up right behind, dropping off Col. Sink and General Mcauliffe.

As the jeep slid to a stop in the snow, both jumped out warmly dressed in their winter clothes.

"As you all know, General Mcauliffe, acting division commander."

General Mcauliffe was an intimidatingly stern man, with an equally stern face to match. He was General Taylor's replacement for time being while Taylor lived it up back home in D.C., doing much of nothing. Taylor wasn't too fond of getting shot at, apparently. But this didn't mean Mcauliffe was any better than Taylor. Mcauliffe might be in Bastogne, but he was too far away from the line to get a good picture as to what was actually going on.

Roe and Rebecca looked at each other, unimpressed by his stiff posture and stern face. Mcauliffe looked as healthy as a horse, probably all warm and cozy back at regiment, enjoying hot food and showers. His winter clothes were downright offensive meanwhile, Easy Company and the rest of the 101st were freezing to death, undersupplied, and surrounded.

"Give it to me straight," Mcauliffe commanded.

Col. Strayer stepped forward, appearing from the fog, a tired rasp in his voice.

"We've been taking ground in one position, General, losing it in another. And now, it looks like a standoff. We're digging in in the edge of the forest." He looked at Dick, asking him to continue.

"We're under sporadic artillery fire, General. We're taking a lot of hits and have no aid station," Dick continued, "We've run out of food, have no winter clothes, and we have little or no ammo. The lines spread so thin, the enemy wanders into out C.P. to use our slit trenches, sir"

"We just can't cover the line," Winters finished.

"Good morning, Captain Nixon," Col. Sink greeted the very bewildered Nix, as he popped out of his tarp-covered foxhole, "You got anything to add for Gen. Mcauliffe?"

"General," He began, getting himself together and climbing out of his foxhole, "Ah, yes sir. General, I took a walk on a line about 0300 last night. Couldn't find the 501st on our right flank. I tied in with a squad from our 2nd platoon. But, sir, we have some considerable gaps in our perimeter."

"I don't have enough people, sir. We're spread too damn thin," Strayer broke in.

"Hold the line, Colonel, close the gaps," Mcauliffe ordered.

 _What did he think we were doing already? No thanks to you, either._ Rebecca fumed.

"This goddamn fog won't lift any time soon, so you can forget about air cover. Your first battalion just pulled out of Foy, Krauts on their tail. Tanks, artillery, got no backup. There's a lot of shit heading this way."

The General and the Colonel got back into the jeep, the engine starting, heading back to battalion.

 _Great, more shit coming here, and we're practically fighting with sticks and rocks._

Roe and Rebecca followed Dick back into his foxhole.

"Docs," Winters shivered.

"Can we scrounge a bandage from your aid kit, sir?" Roe asked.

"How are you guys fixed?"

They both sighed.

"We have no plasma, couple of bandages. Practically no morphine," Rebecca trembled, taking the bandage from Dick's aid kit, "We even tried to find 3d Battalion, but we lost our way," Rebecca admitted, recalling the dead bodies in the snow.

Dick continued to shave. "If you can't get over to 3rd, hook up with Doc Ryan, he'll fix you up with what he has to spare."

"Thanks, Cap'n," Roe rasped out.

"Hey, Roe? Why don't you go ahead, I'll make my way round the foxholes, have the guys cough up what they have."

"Yes, Cap'n."

"Eugene," Dick began, rubbing the shaving cream on his face, "Get everything you can, you're gonna need it."

Roe nodded and walked off, shoving his frigid hands into his pockets. Rebecca waited until he was far off and out of earshot before she slid into Dick's foxhole.

"You know," Rebecca shivered, "A lot of the guys aren't shaving anymore, the hair keeps them warm."

Dick took out his razor and began making careful strips along his face. "It would be improper of the Battalion XO."

Rebecca joked. "Have you seen Nix?"

"Nix is improper." He chuckled.

Rebecca let out a slight chuckle followed by a shiver. Dick finished shaving and began wiping the remnants of the cream off his face. Rebecca looked up and noticed a strip of shaving creams on his jaw he missed.

"Here, you missed some." Rebecca pointed out, grabbing the towel.

She moved in close to Dick and wiped the strip off his jawline. Dick took in a sharp breath, feeling Rebecca's warm breath on him. She looked up at him and turned a deep crimson, realizing how close they were. It dawned on Rebecca the last time they were that close, and her stomach did somersaults.

"There," Rebecca cleared her throat backing away, nervously, "There, you go."

"Who are you diggin' in with tonight?" Dick queried, trying to lighten the mood.

"I think Buck, tonight."

"You haven't been to HQ yet. Why don't you dig here tonight?"

"Wouldn't you like that?" She joked.

Dick's face turned red. "Listen, I'll see you later, okay?"

Rebecca left Dick's foxhole, slipping her gloves back on.

 _Dammit._ This was killing her. Now more than ever, all she wanted to was spend the night with Dick. But she couldn't, they promised each other they would forget about what happened in Paris. What once might have just been a friendly gesture, like sleeping in the same foxhole, was now something completely different.

Rebecca trudged back to Roe and Spina's foxhole, finding Dike chewing them out. Dike: always making a mountain out of a molehill.

"What's this? Two medics in one hole?" He started.

"Yes, sir," Spina answered.

"Well, what's gonna happen to us if you take a hit, huh?"

Rebecca approached Dike, annoyed. "Lieutenant, I have everything under control."

Dike looked back at Rebecca shrinking under her eye. "Yes, ma'am."

Out of the corner of Rebecca's eye, Lipton approached Dike, exchanging a bemused look with her. Rebecca let out a little sliver of a smile, trying to keep serious.

"Sir," Lip greeted Dike.

"1st Sergeant, where's my foxhole?"

"It's back here, sir." He pointed to the general direction. "Maybe, uh, maybe you missed it, huh? I'll walk you back sir. You're a bit close to the line?"

"Goddammit," Dike swore, for no reason.

As Lipton lead Dike away, Roe, Spina, and Rebecca broke out into snickers.

"Roe, c' mon, let's go find some more morphine," Rebecca chuckled.

Roe and Rebecca paced over to a few of Easy's foxholes and found Guarnere walking around.

"Sergeant Guarnere," Roe began, catching up with the Italian, "Did you, uh, did you keep your morphine from Holland?"

"No," He confessed. "Hey, Docs, I gotta talk to you."

"How's the leg?" Rebecca asked.

"The hell with the leg, I'm pissing needles!"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. _I wonder why that is_?

"Later," Roe argued.

The two jogged over to Smokey and Skip's foxhole. Smokey was looking blankly ahead, giving the line the thousand-yard stare, while Skip was trying his damnedest to dig his foxhole deeper.

"You seen 'em?" Roe asked as the two crouched down.

"No, but they're out there. Depend on it," Smokey prophesied.

"Cup of joe, Docs?"

"Gordon, I need scissors. You got scissors, sharp scissors?"

"Scissors?" Smokey smiled. "Well, let's see, I'll have to check the sewing room. Might be upstairs in the study. That skinny old drawer in the middle of the desk."

Rebecca snorted at Smokey's incurable sarcasm.

"Alright, what about an extra syrette in your aid kit, huh?"

"Hide you morphine guys-!"

An explosion out of nowhere took everyone by surprise. Rebecca, Roe, Smokey, and Muck all hit the deck, knocking over the hot coffee.

"Muck, you alright?" Malarkey yelled overhead.

"I'm good!"

"Muck, Malarkey, take cover!" Roe yelled as he and Rebecca began running over to Skip's foxhole.

"Hey, docs, morphine!" Skip yelled, tossing the syrette over to Rebecca, "Here, take it!"

Rebecca caught the tiny syrette and put it in her medbag.

"Where's Penkala?" Roe asked, frantically.

"Christ knows!" Malarak blurted out in frustration.

"MEDIC!"

The call pierced through the air. Roe and Rebecca dashed over, taking cover here and there as artillery exploded all around them.

"DOC!" Someone called out again.

"You guys hit?" Roe hollered, sliding into Babe's foxhole with Rebecca.

"Hey, docs, how you doing?" Babe greeted, obviously okay.

"Hey, are crazy?" Julian shouted as Roe rolled over on him.

"What are you watching them for? What the goddamn line!" Babe ordered.

Julian, one of the newest and probably the youngest, grabbed his rifle and aimed it at the line.

'You got a syrette?" Rebecca pressed Julian.

"No, Cap'n." He spoke with his rifle pressed against his cheek, watching the line.

"MEDIC!" The same voice bellowed again.

Roe and Rebecca climbed out of the foxhole and sprinted over to the call. An explosion would go off near them, forcing them to duck and cover, further delaying their progress to answer the call.

"DOC!"

"Penkala!" Roe identified as the injured when they both arrived at the hole.

"It's the artery, I can feel it!" Penk screamed out, as the two medics got in his hole.

"Penkala, let go!" Roe yelled at him.

Penkala was in a panic, clutching onto his hand, only making Roe and Rebecca's job harder.

"It's the goddam artery!" He insisted.

"Penkala, loosen your fingers, goddamnit, loosen them now!" Roe shouted.

"I'll bleed to death." Penkala moaned.

"Relax your arm, Penk, come on!" Rebecca persuaded.

"It's not the artery!" Roe announced, assuring the worried Penk.

"I ain't going back, Docs." He argued.

"What?" They buzzed in unison.

"I ain't going nowhere, not in this shit!"

"You don't wanna go out in this shit and you're yelling 'medic'?" Roe hollered.

"I don't need to go back to no aid station!"

Rebecca began pouring sulfa on Penk's arm, letting Roe wrap it.

"Well, you're in luck, Penkala," Roe seethed, a bomb sounding overhead, "We don't get no aid station."

The world around became quiet, the barrage was over for now.

"Bull, you okay?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Bull announced, looking out to the MLR.

"Penkala, scissors, I need scissors you got scissor?"

Poor Eugene had been asking around all damn day for a pair of scissors. He had lost them in Holland, probably due to all the ruckus bray before Easy moved out.

"The hell I need scissors for?" Penkala grimaced, looking at Gene.

"You got your aid kit?" Rebecca asked, impatiently.

Penkala reached into his pocket and pulled out his kit, handing it Rebecca.

"You don't need this, not yet, we do."

Roe and Rebecca dragged themselves out of Penk's and Bull's foxhole, running back to their own before more shelling started.

They collapsed inside, meeting Spina.

"Who got hit?" Spina asked.

"Penkala," Gene answered.

"Alright, here, this is what I want you to do," Rebecca started, handing Penkala's medkit over to Spina, "I want you to find 3rd battalion, alright? You know what we need, bandages, plasma. Beg if you have to. And get Roe some scissors, please. And get yourself something hot, huh? Go."

Spina climbed out of the foxhole, leaving breathless Rebecca and Roe. Roe took his helmet off, rubbing his head, trying to gather himself.

XXX

Two hours later, Gene and Rebecca met Babe, Spina, and company to get some grub. The group was all gathered around eating, laughing, and joking about Spina's and Babe's encounter with a German on their way to 3d Battalion. Hinkle would now be a running joke for the time being.

Roe and Rebecca sat down on wooden crates to keep the snow from getting their pants wet and waited for Domingus to pass out whatever was being identified as food tonight. Joe Domingus did what he could to provide hot and semi-edible food to Easy with the limited supplies he had. The taste didn't matter much, food was food, but by the time it arrived to them all, it was ice cold.

Joe walked by serving Roe and Rebecca first. She speared the fritter with her fork, biting into the cold stick. It tasted even worse cold.

"Yo, these smell like my armpit!" Malark joked, mouth half full of food.

"At least your armpit's warm!" Skip jested, examining the cold fritter.

"Do you want syrup with that?" Domingus mocked, pointing his ladle at Malark.

"Hey, Joe, be honest, what's in these things anyway, huh?" Malark inquired.

"Nothing you wouldn't eat, Malarkey." He retaliated back to Don.

Domingus by some miracle managed to find shortening and cornmeal to make corn fritters, serving them with white navy beans.

Rebecca took a spoonful of beans, grimacing at the frozen taste. To make matters worse, the beans were like dynamite to the men's colon, resulting in the worst smelling gas and some interesting slit trench performances.

Rebecca wasn't an exception to this either. The only difference was, while the men could let one rip in front of each other, she had to hold it in until she was out of earshot to flatulate; it was "indecent" for a lady to do such things while in the presence of others. The men might die of shock if she pinched one out in front of them.

"I won't eat malarkey!" Skip interjected, evoking more laughs from the group.

Hinkle reared his head back into the conversation, providing some much-needed laughs from the small group of men.

"Anyone seen Lt. Dike?" Lieutenant Peacock asked, approaching the group.

"Try battalion CP, sir," said Malarkey, a smirk upon his face.

"Try Paris," Skip whispered.

"Try Hinkle," Malarkey snickered.

"Hinkle, sweetie, I'm home!" Doc Ryan imitated Dike, pretending Babe was Hinkle, hugging him.

"Hey, Eugene, Cap'n, Lieutenant Dike's got a full aid kit, try him," Babe suggested, gesturing, a fork full of fritter.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's not using his!" Malarkey jested.

"Maybe Hinkle's got a syrette for you guys," Julian jibed.

Roe cracked a smile in between his cigarette and Rebecca nearly choked on her beans from laughter.

"Eat your strudel!" Skip mocked.

"Hey, Hinkle-Vinkle, eat the armpit, huh?"

Rebecca smiled and laughed, genuinely for the first time in days, cupping her hands around her ration tins every fading heat. She scraped the bottom, spooning the last few bites of beans into her mouth. Her smile quickly faded, the food was never hot enough.

She finished her meal and decided it was a good time to part the wisecrackers for the night. "I'm digging in for the night. See ya guys later."

"Good night, Captain," Everyone rang out, waving her off and quickly going back to their Hinkle jokes.

Rebecca lumbered over to Buck's foxhole, hands deep in her pockets, shivering. The sun behind the clouds was slowly setting making way for even colder weather. She needed to find her foxhole buddy. Who better than Buck? His large size made Buck perfect to dig in with.

Rebecca couldn't feel her toes anymore and her face was numb. She decided now a perfect time to find some warmth.

XXX

Buck was sitting in his foxhole, a wool blanket covering him, providing barely enough cover for his enormous body when he saw Rebecca approach him.

"Hey, Becca." He crowed.

The woman climbed into his foxhole, taking her helmet off and adjusting her beanie. "Mind if I sleep with you tonight?"

Buck moved over, offering the blanket to Rebecca, which he happily accepted. "Not at all. It's not every night a beautiful dame asks a fella to sleep with him."

"Shut up, Buck," Rebecca mumbled, scooting closer to him.

She buried her face in his chest, letting his body heat embrace her. He was like a furnace. What was it about guys that they gave off such heat?

The sudden onset of heat made her break out into chills.

"I'm freezing my ass off." She complained.

Buck looked down at the shivering nurse. "What? I thought you were from New England. Luz said you have some of the worst winters around."

"Yeah, they do. The only difference is, nobody made me sleep out in it."

"Just try to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be busy for you," Buck said, putting his arm around the quivering woman.

"Don't I know it." She whispered, slowly falling asleep.

XXX

Rebecca woke up with a startle as Buck bounded out of the foxhole. Her mouth and nose were dry from breathing in the cold, dry air. Rebecca looked around, it was snowing _again_. Her body broke out in shivers again, Her personal furnace gone.

 _Where the hell did he go?_

Rebecca hopped out of the foxhole, dusting the layer of snow off her and walked over to a group of figures. It was Buck, Guarnere, and Roe. Buck had left Rebecca like a bat out of hell when he heard Liebgott and Alley singing. She decided to find another foxhole buddy, someone who wouldn't disturb her again.

A yawn overcame Rebecca, reminding her how exhausted she was. She snuffed up her runny nose, though it continued to run. She wiped her nose on her hand and looked down. Blood. The damn dry air gave her a bloody nose.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to quell the bleeding, put her head down, and walked over to Roe's foxhole, the blood leaving a trail in the snow.

"Hey, Gene, mind if I sleep with you tonight?" She drawled, congested.

"What's the matter with your nose?" He asked curiously

"Damn dry air, gave me a bloody nose."

Roe opened his bag and pulled out a piece of toilet paper. "Here."

"Thanks." She said, sitting down in his foxhole and blocking her nose with the paper.

"I think it stopped," Rebecca concluded pulling the napkin out of her nose.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Cap'n?"

"You too, Roe."

Roe pulled Rebecca in closer to himself and fell asleep just as the snow began hitting the ground.

XXX

Rebecca jolted awake at the sound of a mortar explosion and the cry for a medic. The shelling had started again. Roe and Rebecca sprinted over to Perconte's and Skinny's foxhole.

"Medic!" Perconte yelled.

Both docs hopped into their foxhole and saw Skinny, his leg being used as a pincushion for splinters that had broken away from a tree.

"Perconte, you getting a jeep?" Roe asked.

Perconte nodded and began cranking up the radio.

Roe pulled out a pair of scissors he snagged from Perconte just last night and began cutting Skinny's trousers.

"Look what they did to my leg!" Skinny cried.

"Easy CP, Easy CP, this is Perconte. Sisk has been hit, I need a jeep. I say again, I need a jeep, now!"

Roe finished opening Skinny's pants and showed the leg to Rebecca. Huge chunks of wood from a pine tree almost looked like bone. Rebecca plucked out a few splinters letting Roe get sulfa in. Skinny bit down on his lip, trying his best to take the pain.

"Okay, Sisk, it ain't that bad, ain't that bad," Roe reassured Skinny, as he poured the sulfa on his leg.

"Ain't that bad?" Skinny whined, examining the bloody mess that was his leg.

The explosions continued, two and three at a time. Roe pulled out a bandage, handing it over to Rebecca, letting her tie it.

"AAAARGH!" Skinny moaned through his teeth as Rebecca became pressing down the bandage.

Roe reached into his bag, pulling out his dwindling supply of morphine, ready to give him a syrette for the pain.

"No, Doc, save the morphine, I can make it," Skinny stopped Roe, "I can make it, save it, okay?"

"Alright let's get him out of here," Rebecca ordered.

Perconte dragged Skinny out of the foxhole and carried him with Roe to where the jeep should've been. Rebecca was at their heels, looking around for the damn vehicle that seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Where's the goddamn jeep?" Roe snapped.

"I don't know, but I hear it," Perconte reassured.

The two increased their pace to meet the jeep, but slipped on the snow, bending Skinny's leg; he yelled out in pain, throwing his head back to the sky.

"AAAH, Jesus Christ!" He bellowed.

"Aw, Skinny, you got blood all over my trousers," Perconte complained, looking down at his bloody pants.

"I'm real sorry, Frank." Skinny sarcastically apologized through his teeth.

Finally, the jeep pulled up, Roe and Perconte picked Skinny up again and with a boost from Rebecca, loaded him on the hood.

"Tell Spina we went in for plasma!" Rebecca ordered.

Quickly, the jeep sped off, heading for town.

They entered the ravaged town of Bastogne. Everywhere Rebecca looked, there was some pile of rubble or something on fire from the Krauts constant barrage of artillery. A once beautiful town was almost completely decimated by war. Military personnel walked in out and of buildings, the town becoming a makeshift Army center. Meanwhile, citizens wandered around listlessly, trying to figure out what they should do now.

The jeep driver yelled over the engine at Roe and Rebecca to be heard. "All the tanks, artillery, are pulled back to here. We've got no back-up beyond Bastogne, this is it." He continued. "The Krauts captured the 326th medical and they took everybody. Doctors, medics, the whole shebang. We got nothin'."

He pulled up to a cathedral, dawned with a red cross on the entrance. The large building seemed suitable for triaging and housing the wounded.

"They're giving the boys hooch for the pain." The jeep driver yelled at Roe and Rebecca again.

The jeep stopped at the entrance of the cathedral. Roe and Rebecca got out and helped to get Skinny in a stretcher.

"He took a mortar hit, watch the leg," Roe reported to the stretcher bearers.

"Yeah, watch the leg," Skinny agreed.

The outside to the cathedral was lined with the dead bodies the medics couldn't save. Evacuations were at a standstill, so the bodies piled up. It was a grisly sight, guys piled up on top of one another like a mass grave.

Roe and Rebecca followed the stretcher inside.

"Move it!" the stretcher bearer yelled at the mass of people loitering around the church's entrance.

"Coming through!" Roe and Rebecca yelled.

They were taken down to the basement, probably where the sacristy was, that now served as a makeshift aid station. Rebecca walked down the marble stairs and was flabbergasted by the staggering amounts of wounded.

"Oh, no, no, no, here, put him here!" A female voice called.

It was the first one in a long time Rebecca had heard. The woman approached Skinny's stretcher taking a quick glance. Her fair skin, light blue eyes, and feminine touches were a welcome change from all the masculine faces of E Company. The young nurse had her blonde hair tied up in a blue kerchief, out of her face and ready to work. And by the looks of it, it clearly wore on her, but Rebecca could tell, away from all this, she was a gentle soul.

"Is he bad?" She asked, in a thick French accent.

"No, lower leg wound, no morphine," Roe answered.

She examined the wound on Skinny and moved on, grabbing a pile of dirty bandages.

"Nurse, have you any-."

"Wait, please."

Rebecca shrugged at Roe. She understood the strain of triaging. A million things on your mind and only two hands to do it with.

They both watched the woman as she moved into another room where a black girl was sopping up blood from a soldier's abdomen. The nurse took the pile of dirty dressings and dropped them into a pot of boiling water. That was one way to do it.

Roe walked over to a surgeon working on a man. "What's going on here? Why aren't these men evacuated?" Roe asked.

"We can't evacuate, we're cut off," The surgeon replied, "This is as far as it goes." He said, using his stethoscope to check the wounded man's heart sounds.

"Jesus," Rebecca breathed.

The French nurse returned to Skinny's side, gave him a glass of whiskey and stroked his head while the black woman began tending to his wound.

"I'm in heaven, Docs," Skinny bubbled, a buzzed smile forming on his lips.

Rebecca chuckled and Roe smiled slightly but was a little preoccupied with what he needed so he could get back to the line.

"Nurse," Roe began again.

"This way." She motioned for them to follow her.

They followed her through the crowd of wounded, trying not to get in anyone's way. The number of critical patients covered almost every inch of the marble floor, only leaving little pathways to maneuver through.

"We need morphine, bandages, whatever you've got."

"Okay, I can give you a little, but not a lot." She confessed.

"There you go," She said handing Roe a box, "You can have this, do you want that?" The nurse asked, showing Roe some unknown item.

" _Oui,_ you got plasma?"

Rebecca watched her diligence. It was astonishing she could move so fast despite how long she clearly worked.

"A little, are you a surgeon?"

"No, we don't got no surgeon."

"What about you?" She asked Rebecca.

"No, I'm a field nurse."

She looked at Rebecca, giving a nod realizing Rebecca knew the struggle and chaos of being a nurse, not to mention the disparagement.

"What's this?" Roe asked examining the material, the nurse put in the box.

"Er, from the bed."

"What, sheets?" Roe asked surprised.

"Yes, for bandages."

" _Voa."_

" _Merci."_

" _Comment vous appelez vous?"_ Roe asked in French.

"My name is Renee."

"I'm Gene, Eugene Roe."

Rebecca walked closely behind, watching the interaction between the two.

"What about your friend?"

"I'm Rebecca Clark."

"Where are you people from?"

"Louisiana, half Cajun," Roe said.

"Rhode Island."

" _Et toi, d'ou viens tu?"_

" _Bastogne,"_ Renee chuckled.

They smiled at each other and parted ways. Roe and Rebecca climbed the stairs and ran back to the jeep.

"Can you get us back to the line?" Roe asked the jeep driver.

"Sure." He said taking the box of supplies.

Roe bent down to the ground and picked up a pair of boots. "Who are those for?" Rebecca asked.

"Joe Toye."

Rebecca got in the jeep and sat down, holding the box the driver handed her. She saw Renee run out of the church looking for them.

"Eugene!" She yelled, throwing something at him, " _Chocolat, pour vous."_

She smiled sincerely at Roe. Rebecca leaned back in the jeep watching Gene, smugly. She swore she could see the faintest smile under his helmet.

Roe climbed in and frowned at Rebecca. "What?"

"Nothing." She smiled.

The jeep revved start and the Docs were off again back to the line.

XXX

The jeep skidded on the snow, speeding back to the line. Father Maloney had gathered a group of men, giving a service. The jeep parked, Rebecca hopped out with the box in hand and cursed. She had another one of his services again.

"Fight well for your God and your country. God bless you all, and stay safe." Father Maloney stressed.

The men around him got and grabbed the weapons they had. The small group of Easy Company men could mean one thing: a patrol.

 _Shit._ Rebecca swore. They were looking for Krauts and someone was bound to get hurt.

"That's it, guys, nothing more to worry about," Muck began, "We're gonna die now, we're gonna die in a state of grace."

A few men chuckled at Muck's dark joke, but Rebecca didn't find it funny at all, not after what she'd seen in Bastogne.

Roe and Rebecca found Spina in the disbanding crowd, ready to give out what they had found. Spina approached them, looking very displeased.

"Battalion wants a reconnaissance patrol. Kraut hunting."

Spina clearly didn't want any part of it.

"Alright, I'll go, take these," Roe began, handing the box to him and the boots, "Give the boots to Joe Toye, tell him they're a nine."

"Roe, you'll be okay on your own for a bit? I just wanted to speak with Father Maloney."

"Yeah, Cap'n of course."

Roe scurried away, trying to catch up with the patrol. Rebecca knew it was doubtful they would need him anyway since it was a combat patrol.

"Spina, why don't you go back to the foxhole, rest a little bit?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Rebecca watched Spina walk away and made her way over to Father Maloney. She had hoped he could spare a minute just to do a small blessing for her. Rebecca walked over to the jeep where he was putting away his the Eucharist and folding up the cloth that covered the hood of the jeep.

"Father Maloney," Rebecca began.

The gentle-faced priest looked up from what he was doing and smiled. Rebecca had infinite respect for the priest. He, like medics, ran out into the fray of combat to comfort the dying soldiers. She had heard what Father Maloney had done in Carentan, and as far as she was concerned, he deserved a Distinguished Service Cross every time he went out into a firefight.

"What can I do for you, Rebecca?"

Rebecca felt nervous for some reason, maybe because she hadn't been to church in over two years, but she suddenly shrunk under Father Maloney's gaze. Guilt overcame her.

"Well, Father, I was hoping for a blessing. I just missed the one you did with the other fellas."

He smiled taking his stole and putting it back on. "Of course."

Rebecca got down on one knee, taking her helmet off, blessed herself, and bowed her head. Father Maloney closed his eyes and put his hands over Rebecca's bowed head.

"Heavenly Father, watch over this young healer and give her Your strength. Grant her courage as she faces the enemy to help the wounded. We ask this in Your name. Amen."

Rebecca blessed herself again and got up. "Thank you, Father."

"Have no fear, Rebecca, you are doing God's work, and he will not abandon you." Father Maloney put a hand on her shoulder and nodded before he began packing his things again.

She smiled wholeheartedly at Father Maloney, putting her helmet back on and headed out to find Roe.

Rebecca walked a few, feeling significantly better now that she had talked to Father Maloney. She found Roe leaned up against a tree on his toes, staring fiercely at the direction the squad had moved to.

"Hey, Roe what's going on-."

Her question was quickly answered by the sound of a firefight in the distance.

"Sounds like they made contact," Roe murmured, still staring far ahead.

Rebecca sat down next to him, not caring that the snow was melting and wetting her trousers. She wanted to be by Roe's side in case something happened. Rebecca yearned for everyone to return safely.

Out in the distance Rebecca caught sight of Lieutenant Peacock briskly jogging away from the fire. Rebecca's brow furrowed.

 _What the hell was he doing back here?_

Roe and Rebecca quickly sprung up.

"What's happening, sir?" Roe asked.

"We're pulling back, we made contact. I gotta get to the C.P." Peacock exclaimed as he walked by them, out of breath.

Roe and Rebecca looked at him in shock, then at each other. Peacock was supposed to be leading the men, and he was leaving them to fend for themselves. No orders, no nothing to help them.

"Lieutenant!" Rebecca screamed out to Peacock, "You get back out there. You get back out there, now!" She yelled after him, anger and desperation fuming from every word.

He turned around and looked at her blankly. Peacock had already made up his mind.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I have to get back C.P."

Peacock continued to walk away, much to Rebecca's exasperation. She was shaking with anger. He was abandoning his men.

"Lieutenant Peacock, that's an order!" She yelled out to him.

It was too late, he was too far away now to hear anything. It probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway, what authority in battle did she have besides medical? Rebecca buried her face in her hands in frustration. Distant voices of Easy Company men echoed through the forest becoming louder. The sounds of bullets pierced the air.

"Move!" Someone called out.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Where the hell are we?"

Confusion took over the whole patrol. The operation had been a total quagmire.

"Straight ahead, straight ahead!" Bull's distinct southern drawl called out, trying to lead the men to safety.

Rebecca and Roe looked hopelessly out to the retreating, only feeling useful when they both saw someone go down. They sprung up, ready to work. As the shots from the German's got closer, Easy began setting up, preparing to fire back.

Roe and Rebecca got the replacements side, ripping open his clothes and exposing the gushing wound. Rebecca placed a hand on the gaping hole in the man's side, letting Roe get out the bandage. Luz was by their side, phoning CP for a jeep.

"Okay, I got you a jeep, docs," Luz announced, breathless.

Rebecca rolled the replacement on his side so Roe could tie the bandage. She looked over her shoulder and saw Nix approaching them.

"Martin!" Nixon yelled out. "Martin!"

Johnny Martin ran to the cover of a tree and looked for Nix. "Sir!"

"What's going on?" He bellowed.

"They got Julian!" Martin yelled back.

"He's still alive!" Babe yelled in protest.

 _Fuck,_ Rebecca thought. _How are we going to get to him?_

"We don't know that!"

"We gotta go get him, sir!" Babe spoke out in denial.

"Did you hit an O.P. or their line?" Nix and asked.

"Their line, sir!" Martin yelled.

"We've gotta go back, sir, get Julian out of there!" Babe yelled again.

"No, fall back!" Nixon ordered.

Rebecca glanced down at the wounded man. The blood stained the white snow, leaving a pool of the crimson liquid. He was bleeding out, they needed to evacuate him fast.

"We lost Lt. Peacock!" Someone yelled.

Rebecca's blood boiled. She swore if she saw Peacock, she would strangle him for leaving his men. Dike too while she was at it. Easy's leaders were for shit.

"No, he's back at CP!" Nixon confirmed.

Rebecca turned to Nix, red hot anger flowing through her. "Nixon, if I find that son of a bitch I'll punch his lights out. You keep him away from me, do you hear me?!" She spat out.

Nixon looked at her with saucers eyes. She didn't care how improper it sounded, Rebecca was positively irate. Roe placed a shoulder on her, trying to calm Rebecca down and get her to focus. The replacement was bleeding right through the bandage, they had to move.

Nixon jerked himself from his shock and began calling out orders. "Come on, Martin, fall back!"

"Come on docs, we gotta fall back!" Luz reasoned.

Roe took out a syrette and jammed it into the neck of the replacement.

"Roe, Rebecca, we've gotta move now, docs, come on, let's go!" Luz yelled, getting up and falling back himself.

Rebecca grabbed the kid's legs and Roe grabbed him under the shoulders, towing him away to the jeep.

"Move!" Martin screamed out. "Let's go!"

A few more shots were fired on Easy's side before everyone ran like hell away from the German's fire. Roe and Rebecca loaded the replacement onto the jeep, what became of him, Roe and Rebecca didn't know.

XXX

Easy made it back to camp, a new depression hung like a dark cloud over them. Dick had heard of the disastrous patrol and the pitiable morale left in its wake. He needed to see his company, or his former company, rather. They were gathered around drinking coffee, trying to recuperate. Dick found Johnny Martin to get the rest of the report.

"We couldn't get to him, Captain. We tried, Babe tried, we couldn't get to him."

Dick looked around, trying to piece together what went wrong that landed one young replacement dead.

 _Maybe if I had been there._

He shook the thought from his mind. There was no way that was possible, Easy wasn't his anymore, it wasn't his job to lead the men. Although, he would take back his previous job as Company CO over pushing papers any day.

Dick approached his fractured company, sitting down. "Hey, people, let me sit in here with you guys."

He sat with them, for a few and glanced over at Roe. Dick noticed how distant the medic was becoming as the days dragged on. He was running on fumes. Dick looked around once more and noticed Rebecca wasn't there.

 _Strange._ She had been on the patrol, why wasn't she with them? He had to know Rebecca was okay.

Dick sat with the men for a few, when Martin told him Nix needed him back at the CP. He slowly got up looking around at his former company. His heart ached for them. If only he was still their CO.

Dick walked through the ever increasing snow, hands jammed into his pockets, trying to keep warm. He arrived. Nix waiting for him, ready to talk. He had a small pot of coffee brewing taking sips from his own tin.

"Hey, what's up?" Dick asked, sitting on an empty crate, leaning up against the wall of the CP.

"Yeah, you hear about what happened with Becca?" Nix asked placing his K-ration tin down on the ground.

"No, what?" Dick pushed, his stomach flipping.

"I had never seen her so angry before. Peacock left the patrol to come here and she was so angry, she yelled at me in front of all the guys that she would punch his lights out if she saw him again."

Dick let out a sigh of frustration. Rebecca wasn't quick to anger, Peacock must have really pissed her off. She always kept a level head, even when in some situations it was so easy to yell.

"I couldn't find after the patrol,"

"Let's hope she didn't run into Peacock," Nix muttered, pouring Dick a tin of coffee.

Dick took the hot liquid and thought. _Now_ even the officers openly voiced their concerns about Easy's leadership. What now?

XXX

Rebecca ordered Roe to go get some chow and cool his heels. She walked further back away from the men and sat on a log shaking with anger and sadness. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring everything. Rebecca allowed for a few tears to fall, letting a small bit of anger and pain release itself from her. She thought of Julian. She felt absolute guilt for not being there, she could have saved him or died trying. Julian was just a kid. Rebecca blamed herself and she blamed Peacock. He was a coward. She quickly got up, wiping her eyes and made her way over to CP, needing to be with Dick. Even though what they were going through was complicated, she still trusted him and confided in him. They were still close.

Rebecca made it the small tarp-covered CP where she saw Dick sitting down on a wooden crate, talking to Nix. She entered, feeling both eyes on her. Nix got up and patted her shoulder, having told Dick the whole thing. Rebecca sat down next to Dick, shame, guilt, and sadness washing over her.

"Nix told me about what happened," Dick began, "What you said."

Rebecca felt shameful for what she said in her fit of anger, but she would never admit it. She meant every word too.

"I don't care if it was indecent, immoral, or unethical for a higher ranking officer to speak that way in front of subordinates. He left his men to die." She spat, tears pricking at her eyes, again.

Dick sighed, taking a hand and placing it on Rebecca's shoulder. "I know. I sat with the guys for a few. The patrol is hanging over everyone's heads."

Rebecca looked up at Dick, surprised. "So, what, are you going to reprimand me?" She simmered.

"No, no, God, no," Dick chuckled, pulling Rebecca into a hug, "I understand your frustration."

The hug came as a bit of a shock to Rebecca, but she welcomed it. She needed a hug right now.

"Can I dig in with you tonight?" Rebecca squeaked, burying her head in Dick's neck.

"Of course, Becca, of course."

XXX

Night came with a new vengeance of cold. Dick and Rebecca wrapped themselves up as best they could and dug in. Sleep was trying to find both captains despite the cold.

"My father's been on these new meds for his liver, you know. Gave up alcohol, the whole shebang," Rebecca began.

Dick looked at Rebecca. "That's great news, Becca. I'm glad to hear it. Has it been working?"

"Not sure yet. I haven't gotten any mail from him in a bit, but he seems really positive that it will."

Rebecca had hoped that's why she hadn't received any word. _Blame the mail._ She thought. Rebecca had no clue if the medicine he was taking was going to work or if his liver was too far gone to be helped. But she pushed down those thoughts as she tried to fall asleep.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Dick declared, draping an arm around the woman.

"I hope so," Rebecca mumbled closing her eyes.

XXX

Rebecca woke up the next morning, a new layer of snow covering her. She broke out in chills immediately. Rebecca looked by her side and noticed Dick had already gotten up; at least he knew better than to wake her too. She took the blanket, shook the snow off it and walked over to CP where she found Dick and Nix drinking coffee.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Nix greeted.

Rebecca cracked a small smile and tossed the blanket to Dick.

"Thanks for keeping me warm," Rebecca yawned, sitting down and taking the coffee Nix offered.

Nix smiled at her, wiggling his eyebrows. Rebecca knew Nix didn't know what happened in Paris, but he was always like this. It was almost like he was rooting for the two to get together.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and flicked Nix on the back of the head and took a sip of the hot liquid. Whatever it was, wasn't coffee, but it was hot. It trickled down her throat, warming her insides.

"Hey, Becca," Dick began, "Look outside."

She got up looking outside at the sky. Not a cloudy fog-ridden sky she expected, but a blue open sky littered with clouds. Rebecca broke into a big shit eating smile. The fog had lifted and C-47's roared over. They were dropping supplies.

"It's a supply drop!" Rebecca exclaimed at Nix and Dick.

They both smiled at her, glad to see her excitement again. Rebecca wasted no time in finding Roe and collecting what was dropped to them. It was small, mostly everything went to Bastogne.

When Rebecca found Roe, he was smiling too. Morale seemed to spike at the thought of food, ammo, and medical supplies.

XXX

Roe got a whole squad to go into town to get what they needed. Everyone hopped out of the jeep and Rebecca began ordering everyone to get what they could.

"Take what you can, it doesn't matter what it is, take it." She ordered, handing empty boxes to them all.

The squad dispersed and left Rebecca. She looked around and cursed. The pile of dead bodies had grown. Hopefully now with a resupply, it wouldn't grow any bigger.

Rebecca gathered what she thought was enough, mostly aid kits and rations, and dumped it into the back of the jeep. With nothing to do, she walked over to the church and into the basement to help out.

The amount of wounded grew exponentially. Rebecca walked around a bit, weaving through wounded to find Roe. She found Roe in a wide open room with Renee. Both were grieving over the dead body of a trooper they couldn't save. By the looks of it, neither of them could find the artery, and he bled to death. None saw her so Rebecca took it as a good time to leave them. Roe needed Renee like Rebecca needed Dick. He had become increasingly reclusive and quiet as the days dragged on in Bastogne. He needed someone to confide in, Rebecca didn't care it wasn't her Roe chose.

Rebecca slowly left and grabbed a box of supplies in a sanctuary they used for storage. She picked up the box and left.

The squad she and Roe had arrived in were loaded up in the jeep, ready to go.

"Where's Roe?" Lip asked.

"He'll be back, he's uh, helping down in the church with the wounded," Rebecca excused.

Lip didn't think twice. The jeep started up, taking them back to the front.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you guys enjoyed this extra long chapter! It's exciting to be almost halfway through this story, I can't even believe it! Things are going to get crazier for Rebecca and Easy as I'm sure many of you can imagine. Thank you guys so much for all the support and for sticking this ride out with me. It really means the world to me! :3


	24. Chapter 24 - Serenity

Last Time: Easy Company arrives in Bastogne and endures new kinds of enemies that test even the strongest of wills.

"Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty." - John Ruskin

Now: The cold and severity of their situation begin to wear down on Easy Company more and more.

* * *

 **Chapter 24 - Serenity**

Rebecca was losing her nerve. All she could think about was her father. According to Dick, it was Christmas Eve (it was very easy to lose track of the days while in combat) and she hadn't heard from him in a long time. Mail drop-offs had already happened and she received nothing from her father.

No news was good news, but Rebecca knew how serious liver damage was. The nurse in her was storming up every outcome of her father's recovery. It was driving her insane.

She laid awake in her foxhole, alone, while Roe was out doing rounds. Rebecca pleaded with God that her father would make it, he had to.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Rebecca knew that whatever will be, will be, and there was nothing she could do all the way in Bastogne, so she prayed the Serenity Prayer. But, she was praying in vain. If something went wrong, her natural inclination was to deny and bargain and try to change the outcome.

"I like that prayer," Roe said, coming up behind her.

Rebecca jumped, stirred from her thoughts at Roe's return.

"My mom taught it to me."

Roe slid in the foxhole with Rebecca and wrapped the blanket tightly around the two of them.

"If you're trying to accept the things you can't change, what are you worried about?" Roe questioned, knowing she was praying for a reason.

"I never told you about my home life, did I?"

Roe shook his head and shrugged. "I never told you about mine."

"Well," Rebecca began, wondering where to start, "My mother died when I was a teenager, my dad turned into an alcoholic, now he's trying to fix his liver from permanent damage."

"So, you're worried he won't push through?" Roe guessed, pulling Rebecca closer for warmth

"Yeah, so, hence the serenity prayer."

Roe grunted, thinking about the prayer.

"It applies to all this too, you know. Sometimes we can't change what happens out there, no matter how hard we try. In the end, if we did our best then it has to be good enough. We can't dwell on it, we can't blame ourselves," Rebecca preached, "I know you blame yourself for what happens to the guys that don't make it. I know it's getting to you, but sometimes you just can't change what happens. You're a hell of a medic, Roe. No one tries harder than you."

Roe didn't say anything, pondering what Rebecca said. Rebecca closed her eyes and let him think about it. She hoped what she said was enough. She knew the deaths, the casualties were getting to him; eating him away. It was something Roe needed to square away with himself and with God.

There was only so much she could say to help him.

XXX

Roe sat awake next to sleeping, Rebecca. He thought about what she had said. Maybe she was right, maybe he couldn't change what happened to the men he cared for.

So, Eugene began mumbling the serenity prayer to him.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

XXX

The next morning, Roe and Rebecca anxiously waited in their foxhole as Easy repelled a German tank attack.

The smoke emitting from the giant metal monsters got closer and closer. Rebecca's heart was beating as fast a hummingbird's wings.

She looked at Roe. He was staring coldly out at the tanks, waiting for something to go wrong.

"Hey, docs, it's gonna get busy, guys," Lipton informed them, making a dash for the line.

Rebecca closed her eyes and breathed, praying that they could hold the Germans off. Her eyes snapped open at the first sound of German artillery. It was starting.

Without missing a beat, someone called out, "Smokey's hit, medic!"

Spina hopped into their foxhole, alerting them.

"Hey, Eugene, Cap'n, Smokey's hit!"

Rebecca grabbed her bag and looked back, Roe wasn't moving. He was frozen in place.

"Come on, let's go!" Spina pleaded.

Roe was finally stirred from his daze. "Okay, go!" He yelled, springing into action.

Moe Alley and Christenson hauled Smokey out of his foxhole and met Roe and Rebecca halfway. Smokey was limp, not crying about the pain at all. He had to be paralyzed.

"I can't feel my legs," Smokey moaned.

"My foxhole, get the plasma," Roe ordered Christenson.

The tanks characteristic click-clacking was getting closer. Someone yelled out and Easy opened up on the Germans.

"We got 'em, go!" Rebecca ordered for More to go ahead.

Rebecca ripped open Smokey's shirt and let Roe pour the sulfa. Judging by the looks of it, the bullet went straight through his arm, into his back, and out his other arm.

Christenson came back and placed the plasma next to them and scurried away to his foxhole. They both took a bandage a piece and wrapped it where the bullet entered and exited Smokey.

It was chaos, Easy was firing like mad trying to repel the German. Rebecca looked down at Smokey, they had to get him out of here.

"Sergeant Lipton," Roe called out as if reading Rebecca's mind.

Lipton came right to their side.

"Docs, we gotta get the hell out of here."

Lip placed a hand on Smokey's face trying to keep him alert, like a mother comforting her child.

"Stay with us, Gordon. Stay with us!" Lipton coaxed. "We gotta get the hell out of here." He pushed, yelling.

Lipton and Roe grabbed Smokey by his jacket and began dragging away from the fray. Rebecca trailed close behind, holding the plasma.

They dragged him as far away from the battle until the shots and artillery were just echoes in the woods.

"Stop! We gotta stop," Roe commanded.

They placed Smokey back down so Roe could get the plasma in him. Rebecca handed him the tube and held up the bottle.

"Come on, buddy," Lipton cooed trying to keep Gordon awake.

Roe started pulling up Smokey's sleeve, looking for a decent vein to put the plasma in. Eugene tapped Smokey arm to pop up the vein and stuck the needle in slowly.

"Come on doc, hurry I gotta get back to the line," Lip urged.

"Okay, okay."

Gordon raised his head looking around, trying to stay alert.

"Lip?" He called to the First Sergeant.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"You're standing on my hand," Smokey whispered calmly.

Rebecca's heart sank. Could he really not feel anything in that arm either? She hoped it was just because he was in shock, not because he was becoming a quadriplegic.

Lipton looked down at his foot and quickly stepped off of Smokey's hand. "Sorry, bud."

"Look, I'll get you another Purple Heart for it," Lipton promised.

The sound of a jeep buzzed behind them. Lip looked behind him and quickly got up to get the driver's attention.

"Good, he's all set," Rebecca confirmed, "You're gonna be just fine, Smoke."

Gordon met his glossy eyes with Rebecca. A languid smile crept over his lips. "Gosh Captain, you sure are pretty." He mumbled.

Rebecca chuckled, she knew he meant nothing by it. Smokey was in so much shock he didn't know whether to shit or wind his watch. At this point, it was just good that he was awake and somewhat alert.

"You can take me out once we get you fixed up, alright?"

Lipton came sprinting back, the jeep driver at his heels. Lipton and the driver lifted Smokey up from the ground and heaved him over to the jeep. "I got you a ride, docs."

With much effort, since Smokey was paralyzed and pretty much dead weight, they loaded him onto the hood of the jeep. Roe got in and let out a long breath, probably just as relieved as Rebecca that Smokey was stable for now.

"Captain, I'm good here."

"Alright, I'll stay," Rebecca said, clapping Roe on the back.

The jeep revved up and sped away with Roe and Smokey. Lipton and Rebecca ran back into the woods, ready to face the fray.

XXX

After the successful repelling of the German tanks, Easy Company gathered around to enjoy a Christmas Eve meal together. Even Dick, Nix and Colonel Strayer were there. Rebecca waited in the long string of soldiers, waiting to get her portion of Domingus' bean stew.

The food was a marked improvement compared to the scant rations they were eating just a few days ago. It was nothing compared to the Italian feast Rebecca's mom usually prepared for Christmas Eve but damned if it wasn't better than a boxed K-ration.

Rebecca got a hearty scoop from Joe Domingus, who smiled as he poured the stew from the giant cauldron and into her tin. There was always the same shared feeling that held the medics in high regard. Little signs of appreciation never went unnoticed with Rebecca.

She walked out of the line of soldiers, taking out her spoon, and began eating the soup. Rebecca watched Babe get a scoop for Roe, who clearly had no intention of getting it himself.

She looked on with worry as Babe placed down the tin on Roe's hands. He showed no signs that he would eat it, or that he was even aware it was out in front of him.

Rebecca walked over to Roe and sat down next to him. She knew exactly what was happening to the Cajun medic. He was slipping. Ever so slowly, but just enough that Rebecca noticed.

She saw it enough in the hospitals before. New nurses or doctors or even experienced veterans would see something that would just get to them in a way it never had before. In this case, it seemed that Roe was just getting tired of what he saw on the battlefield, and unfortunately, like a normal job, he simply couldn't take time off or float to another floor. Eugene Roe was stuck to face the very things that haunted his thoughts.

"Eugene, eat." She pointed to the tin in his lap.

He continued to stare out into space. Lord knows Roe wouldn't allow himself to get taken off the line. Rebecca sure knew she wouldn't if she was in his place.

Rebecca looked at him, her brow furrowing with concern. Roe didn't even realize she was speaking. She sighed, shoveling more of the stew into her mouth while it was still hot. She looked up from her meal at the sound of a jeep pulling up. It was the Colonel.

"Better than sitting down to a Christmas Eve dinner of turkey and hooch back at the Division CP. Damned if I don't like old Joe Domingus' rancid-ass beans better," Sink announced.

This has to be good, Rebecca supposed. Why on earth could the Col. give up a fine Christmas Eve meal to freeze his ass off with Easy Company?

"Hello, Easy Company."

Rebecca got up and joined Dick who was looking rather worse for wear lately. She guessed it had everything to do with the crippling shape Easy was in. The cold didn't help either.

His hands were shoved deep under his armpits and a scarf wrapped around his head. Everyone was inventing new methods to get just a little bit warmer.

Sink walked over to Dick and Rebecca, shaking both their hands and whispering what the hullabaloo was about.

"General Mcauliffe sent a message to the entire division. I thought maybe your people would like to hear it." He said, handing Dick a piece of paper.

"Oh, that should be your prerogative, sir," Winters gestured with a wave of his hand.

Colonel Sink nodded, probably looked forward to reading the message himself.

"Men!" He yelled, commanding everyone's attention, and gathering them around. "Captain Clark." he greeted Rebecca with a smile.

Rebecca smiled back, giving the Colonel a tip of her helmet.

"General Mcauliffe wishes us all a Merry Christmas. What's merry about all this, you ask? Just this. We've stopped cold everything that's been thrown at us from the North, East, South, and West. Now, two days ago the German Commander demanded our honorable surrender to save the USA from total annihilation. The German Commander received the following reply: To the German Commander: NUTS!"

A collective laugh rose, Rebecca chuckled for a second and looked to Dick, expecting him to be laughing too at the obvious morale booster, but instead, he was staring at Roe. He knew something was wrong with the Doc too.

Roe's oblivion was so deep, he didn't even seem to see Dick staring. He didn't seem to notice anything for that matter. Not the Colonel, not his dinner, not anything or anyone.

Rebecca's fussing was only becoming worse the more she looked at Eugene. She wanted to know desperately what was going on in his head. She wanted to help. Lord knows the woman had been through her fair share of struggles, from her mother dying of cancer to her alcoholic father, and often wished she had someone to talk to. But, men were different. For some reason, they had a hard time approaching others with their feelings, and Rebecca had a hunch that pushing him into talking wouldn't do any good.

"We're giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present, and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms, we're truly making ourselves a Merry Christmas," Sink finished folding the paper. "Merry Christmas to you all and God bless you."

The men said their greetings to the Colonel, others yelled "Nuts!" like it was some new battle cry. And there remained Eugene, lost in his own mind.

XXX

Christmas- Eve-Night came bringing the coldest temperatures Easy had experienced since they arrived in Bastogne. Rebecca sat alone in a foxhole, trembling, trying to wrap the wool blanket around her tighter. She brought it up to her nose, trying to capture the steam from her breath and warm her face up. No dice, the blanket wasn't long enough.

Rebecca let out a loud groan, frustrated. Sitting around shaking was only making her colder. She jerked the blanket off, irritated and got up. At least moving around would warm her muscles up.

She walked through the snow, her legs frozen stiff. It was becoming harder to move, the cold made every muscle in the body rigid.

Rebecca walked through the snow, trying to warm her muscles when out of the corner of her eye, she swore the glowing of a fire.

No way, she thought, no one was stupid enough to start a fire.

Out in the distance, the Germans were singing Silent Night. It pissed Rebecca off somewhat. They were over on their side probably well supplied, singing, while Easy was freezing their asses off and running on fumes.

Rebecca continued to follow the flicker of red in the distance and found Dick, Harry, and Peacock all around trying to get warm. The sight of something producing heat made her knees go weak.

"A fire, really?" She testified.

"Come on in and join there's room for you too, Becca," Harry welcomed.

Who was she to pass up some warmth? Rebecca squatted down and put her hands to the small flame. It was a sad excuse for a fire, but the warmth was warmth.

Lieutenant Peacock sat with them, prodding the fire with a stick, trying to keep it going. He looked up giving Rebecca a slight smile. She ignored him, still sore about the patrol a few days ago.

Footprints crunched in the snow behind them, rousing Rebecca. She looked behind her. Nixon came trudging through the snow, probably investigating what he either smelled or saw.

"I swear I thought I could smell a fire." He approached them. "I did smell a fire. Are you out of your minds?"

Despite his objection, he still crouched down with them, shoving his hands to flames to get in on the warmth too.

"Well, we're in a dell," Dick explained, "With fairies, and gnomes."

"Huh?" Rebecca and Nix voiced at the same time, confused.

Before anyone had a chance to utter another word, everyone looked up in a panic as the ground shook as mortars starting flying. The fire wasn't the only thing lighting the forest up now.

"Down!" Dick yelled, pulling Rebecca down to the ground.

A shell exploded near them, causing everyone to squirm out of the way. Unfortunately for Harry, he didn't move quite as quick. A mortar exploded just feet away from him, sending pine tree pieces and shrapnel into his leg.

"Oh, God, no!" He called out, gripping his leg.

Rebecca scrambled over to him with Dick. Harry was yelling in agony as Dick tried to pin him down and calm him. Moving around and flailing about like he was would only make the pain that much worse.

Dick locked eyes with Rebecca, a look of desperation on his face she had never seen before, silently begging Rebecca to help his friend.

"My stuff is back in my foxhole, go get Roe!" She cursed herself for being so unprepared.

Dick screamed out for a medic and Nix behind them called for a jeep. Rebecca looked at Harry's leg. It was riddled with tree bark and metal. Lieutenant Peacock stamped out the fire at Nix's command so Harry would accidentally roll over on it in his seizings. Everyone at that point was screaming for a medic.

Roe was taking forever to get to them.

Shit. Rebecca swore. She had to stay and hold the pressure, she couldn't go running looking for him now. Roe never took this long. She could bet what was happening, just like this morning when he froze in his foxhole during the tank attack.

Harry wouldn't make it if Roe didn't arrive soon. The shrapnel provided at least some sort of cap on the wounds, but they were still bleeding.

"Roe!" Winters called out again.

Rebecca turned around, her face panicked, but finally caught a glimpse of Roe running towards them.

Everyone was huddled around Harry trying to calm him down so Rebecca could keep the pressure. She expected Roe to be right by her side, helping, but he wasn't. Rebecca looked back at him, stunned. He was just standing there, frozen from shock.

Roe stood, eyes glazed over like he was back a few hours ago at dinner.

"Roe," Winters coaxed the man, trying to elicit a response.

Finally, he snapped back and came over to them. Rebecca elevated the leg for him so he could sprinkle the sulfur.

"It's just a scratch, Harry," Nix comforted, "You're not getting out of here this easy."

"Jeeps on its way, hang tough," Winters reassured his struggling friend.

Roe got out a tourniquet and gave the stick to Rebecca to tighten. She pulled it through and began winding the stick, cutting off the excess bleeding so Roe could work.

Welsh groaned with each tight twist Rebecca delivered, arching his back at the pain.

Rebecca held the tourniquet nice and tight and used a towel someone handed over to sop up the extra blood. Roe reached in his bag and whipped out a bandage.

Harry's breathing was getting more labored as his eyes glossed over with pain.

"I got morphine in my pocket, give it to him," Roe told Winters as angled the bandage to cover the wound.

"Where do you want it?" Dick asked.

"Opposite thigh."

Roe placed the bandage on Harry's thigh and Rebecca pressed down firm on it making Harry cry out in pain.

Dick jabbed the syrette in Harry's thigh a little too hard as Gene wrapped the bandage. The drug worked its way through his system, relieving Harry's pain and relaxing him. He let out a moan of relief as the pain washed out of him.

"Okay," Dick muttered, seeing his friend relax as the morphine worked its miracles.

"Elevate his head," Rebecca ordered.

Roe took his bloody finger and painted "M" for morphine on Harry's head. "Get him up."

Everyone helped Harry to the jeep except Roe and Rebecca. Rebecca got up as they hauled Harry to the jeep choking back tears.

"There you go, soldier, take that," Dick said to the jeep driver, giving his weight to the trooper.

Dick passed by Rebecca, placing a hand on her shoulder in solidarity, at the sight of her anguish. Rebecca tried like hell not to let any tears escape. She turned her back from the dreadful scene, not wanting to see anymore, and saw Dick approach Gene.

"Eugene," Dick panted, "Get yourself into town, get a hot meal."

It came out more chastising than Rebecca had hoped, but something had to be done. Eugene just checked out in the middle of a crisis.

Roe practically dragged himself over to the jeep, like a marionette being tugged by the strings of a puppet master. Rebecca watched him go. She turned to Winters still trying her hardest to fight back her emotions that were bubbling over.

She brought a stained hand to her face and wiped away a stray tear, using a finger that wasn't covered in her companion's blood.

XXX

Dick walked over to Rebecca. The woman stood there listlessly, not knowing what to do. He didn't know how much further Rebecca had until she broke too. Having more experience in the medical field gave Rebecca stronger nerves than Eugene maybe did, but things added up and she just saw one of her closest friends get severely injured, not to mention watching Roe self-destruct before her eyes.

Dick approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. Rebecca quickly threw herself back together and gave a forced smile to Dick. He knew she was trying to hold herself together for the Company. They couldn't afford to lose another medic.

Dick took her hand a lead Rebecca to his foxhole. She was sleeping with him and Nix tonight.

XXX

Rebecca buried her face into Dick, her face contorting like she was going to tear up, but she willed herself not to. She had to be strong now more than ever.

Dick brought his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in closer.

"Harry will be fine, Becca," Dick assured, reaching for Rebecca's hand under the blanket.

It was a warm gesture that she gratefully accepted. Rebecca closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

No one was fine. We are all going to end up like Harry, Babe, or Roe.

Rebecca felt guilty for thinking such things but she couldn't help but feel right. In war, you either died or lasted long enough to see yourself self-destruct. She tried to push the thoughts as far back into her mind as possible. All she wanted at this moment was to sleep. But when sleep didn't come as easily as Rebecca wanted, she prayed instead.

 _God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference._

XXX

Unbeknownst to Rebecca, the Luftwaffe bombed Bastogne and a blue headscarf was left without an owner.

XXX

Roe returned at dawn the next morning from Bastogne. Renee was dead, but for some reason, he wasn't upset; the blue headscarf that Eugene found in the rubble of the church gave him strength. Maybe a part of him was relieved that Renee found peace. Maybe he felt strengthened by a new guardian angel.

Eugene trudged through the snow trying to find his foxhole buddy. By the time he found Babe, it was snowing again. Roe jumped into Babe's foxhole and got close to him, trying to get a little bit of warmth from the fiery Philadelphian.

"Everything okay?" Roe asked looking out into the line. "Babe?"

"Yeah," Babe mumbled, scratching his nose.

Roe looked at him and immediately saw the slash mark that was on his hand.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" He asked, taking Babe's hand, examining the gash that had crusted over with blood.

"You did that."

Roe looked at Babe, then at the gash mark, feeling a little bit of guilt. When the hell did I manage to cut him that badly?

"I'll fix it up."

He reached into his bag, trying to find something to wrap Babe's hand with. Roe was reluctant to use it when he was only able to find Renee's headscarf. But he figured Renee wouldn't want it any other way. She was known to use whatever she could find to treat the wounded.

Roe took the blue material and ripped it in half, still feeling the slightest bit of regret for doing so. But, he still had one piece to keep at least.

"Hey, Gene," Babe began, looking at the medic as he worked, "You called me Babe."

"I did?" Roe asked. "When?"

"Just now," Babe said, a little troubled Gene didn't remember.

"Babe," Roe repeated, "I guess I did."

Babe chuckled as Eugene sprinkled a packet of sulfur on Babe's gashed hand.

"Babe," He imitated in Gene's Louisiana drawl. He looked at Gene, roguishly.

Roe, however, wasn't amused. He looked up from his work and at Babe, petulantly. "Heffron, watch the goddamn line."

Babe chuckled again reveling in Roe's callous reaction.

XXX

Rebecca woke up alone in the foxhole she had shared with Dick that night. A chill shot through her body, it had snowed again, making the temperature that much colder. Word had it that this was the coldest winters yet. Impeccable timing on Mother Nature's end.

She looked around, the sky was clear and the sun was out. Rebecca sighed, closed her eyes, and soaked up the sun's glorious rays. The sun provided a welcoming warmth that had been absent most of the time in Bastogne.

Rebecca got up from the foxhole and went to the CP, figuring she would get some breakfast. She found Dick and Nix seeming much happy than when she went to sleep last night. They were sitting down together, enjoying a meager breakfast of K-rations, and shooting the breeze.

"Hey, what's going on?" Curious at the sudden mood change.

Dick and Nixon looked up, happy to see the young nurse feeling better after last night's chaos.

"Patton broke through the German line. He 'rescued' the surrounded paratroopers," Nix informed Rebecca, a smirk on his face.

Rebecca snorted, indignation lacing her voice. "Rescued?"

"That seems to be the general reaction."

Did Patton even know what a paratrooper was? Being surrounded was in the job description. She couldn't wait until the rest of the guys found out about Patton's "rescue" of the paratroopers.

"That's cute. He bring any supplies?"

Dick and Nix both chuckled. Obviously, everyone was feeling the same way. The situation may have seemed dire, but that was only because they were undersupplied. Easy would have managed to fend off the Germans come hell or high water, with or without Patton's little rescue mission.

"Oh, yeah, aid kits, rations, mail, the full monty. Winter clothes too apparently. Although, I've yet to see them."

Rebecca looked at Nix broodingly. "Mail?" She managed to croak out.

"Yeah, letters from home and stuff," Nix revealed.

Dick's eyes shot to Rebecca's panicked ones.

"Did I happen to get anything?" Rebecca asked.

"Nope, not that we know of," Nix informed, taking a sip of coffee.

"Okay, just let me know."

Rebecca quickly left the CP, her nauseous stomach suddenly not in the mood for food. Her heart pounded from the evasion of a possible disaster. She walked back to her foxhole and sat down, sighing in relief.

XXX

Dick and Nix were still in the CP hashing out plans and reviewing intelligence. Dick glanced at his watch; he had been looking at battlefield reports, looking over maps, and writing for over two hours now. His eyes physically hurt from staring at the small text on the papers for so long.

He looked at Nix, who was showing no signs of stopping or weariness. Intelligence was his job after all. Dick grabbed his pen and continued to write when a figure at the entrance of the CP rendered him to stop.

"Excuse me, are you Captain Winters?" He asked, looking down at a piece of paper.

Dick looked up from his work, not recognizing the young man in front of him. He was from the Red Cross. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Sir, I'm looking for Captain Rebecca A. Clark."

Dick's body stiffened.

Nix looked up from his work, peering at their visitor. He glanced at Dick wondering what was wrong.

XXX

Rebecca was with Roe taking inventory of the new supplies. The one good thing about being "rescued" by Patton was the supplies. It was a mix of everything, ammo, medical, food, even clothing; though many had yet to receive their new clothes. There was even penicillin for the guys with pneumonia.

Footsteps crunching behind Rebecca prompted her to turn around. It was Liebgott, Winters' runner for the day.

"Cap'n? Winters needs to see you at the CP."

Eugene looked at Rebecca, just as confused as she was. She shrugged her shoulders.

Roe thought about it for a second and then it dawned on him. His stomach did a nervous flip.

Rebecca parted with Gene, following Liebgott to the CP. As they walked, she thought maybe winter clothes had finally arrived and Dick wanted her to pass them out. Maybe more supplies came in. She squashed that thought, it was doubtful since they received medical supplies already.

They arrived at CP, Liebgott, with his task finished went back to his friends.

Rebecca walked, seeing Dick and a man in a Red Cross military welfare uniform.

The man caught sight of her and removed his cap, reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Rebecca's heart dropped to her feet and her body went stiff. She glared at the piece of paper like it was plagued.

"Ma'am," He began handing over the letter, "With the deepest commiseration."

Rebecca forced herself to take the piece of paper. It felt as heavy as a rock in her hands. The private put his cap back on and left.

She slowly opened the telegram, like every move her fingers made, was painful. Rebecca finally opened it and glanced over the words. Her hand slowly rose to her mouth, trembling, her eyes welled with tears. The tears rolled down her cheeks,

Rebecca fell to the ground, dropping the letter. Dick rushed to her side and took her into his arms, rocking her back and forth. She clenched her chest as if it hurt to simply breathe and let out a long sob.

He looked down at the letter, picked it up and read it.

Her father had killed himself.

"Oh, Becca, no.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I know this chapter was a lot all at once. Things are going to continue to get crazier from here. Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to try and keep getting chapters out as the semester begins to unwind for me. Your support means the world, so, please let me know how I'm doing! :3


	25. Chapter 25 - Pushing Through

Last Time: Rebecca finds out some devastating news.

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." - Norman Cousins

Now: Rebecca, in an attempt to stay on the line, pushes down her emotions and carries on.

* * *

 **Chapter 25 - Pushing Through**

Captain Lewis Nixon was out searching for Dike, trying to goad whatever little intelligence he could out of the man. Attempting to get any useful information out of him was like trying to move heaven and earth and Nix hadn't even found the guy yet.

He trekked through the snow, trying to find the ever elusive Lieutenant. Lewis grumbled to himself. He could be in his foxhole getting slightly warmer, but instead, he was looking for Dike, freezing his ass off. It wasn't too long ago Nix chewed him out for never being around, but he just didn't listen. Being on the line with Dike was like being with a child.

His jaw clenched. _Where the hell is he, where does he ever go?_

Lewis stopped walking, trying to orient himself. It was nearly impossible for everyone to get around. The thick fog and lack of sunlight made everything in the woods look the same.

The woods were silent. But, in the distance, the dead air was pierced by the sounds of sobbing.

Lewis's ears perked up at the distinct feminine sobs coming from the opposite direction.

Lewis's stomach dropped. _What did that guy give to her?_

Rebecca never showed any inkling of sadness around the men. Something really bad must have happened.

Finding Dike became unimportant to him as Lewis marched towards the direction of the cries.

A sudden urge to protect Rebecca and beat the shit out of whoever caused her pain overcame him. The past few years with Rebecca made him very protective of her. Both he and Dick were.

The crying got closer as Lewis moved towards CP. When he arrived with the small hut in view, a few men gathered around, whispering, probably attracted by the sound of crying as well. They exchanged packard looks with each other, no one had ever seen Rebecca cry either.

Doc Roe was there as well, a look of unadulterated remorse on his face. He knew something everyone else didn't.

Lewis's expression hardened as he looked at the crowd, a bunch of nose bags.

"Alright, everyone, nothing to see here. Get back to your foxholes!" He yelled, dispersing them.

He knew for sure, Rebecca didn't want an audience. It was bad enough she was crying, but crying in front of a crowd was worse.

Lewis saw to it that the eavesdropping crowd left, only letting one person stay, Roe. He obviously knew what was going on by the anguished face he dawned moments before.

He pulled the medic aside, wanting to know what to expect before going into the CP, guns blazing.

"Doc, Doc," Nix pulled Roe by his arm, "What the hell's going on in there."

Roe shook his head sighing. "Rebecca just got some news about her father, and judging by her reaction," he motioned to the CP, "I'd say it isn't good."

"Shit," Nix cursed under his breath.

He slowly went into the CP, wanting to help the poor woman as best he could. He walked in and was astonished by what he saw. Rebecca was down on her knees, lamenting into Dick's shoulder as he rubbed the back of her head. Lewis's stomach went nauseous. He had never seen her like this. It broke his heart.

Nix glanced down at the letter that was on the ground and back at Dick who just shook his head. He understood it meant her father was dead.

Nix approached Rebecca, kneeling down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Becca, let's get you to your foxhole."

Rebecca looked up from Dick's shoulder, her face pale except for her red eyes and cheeks from crying. She nodded her eyes swimming with tears.

They guided Rebecca over to her foxhole. She was practically limp under their grip, barely moving her feet to walk.

XXX

Roe remained outside the CP, listening to what was going on, keeping any stragglers away. No one had a right to know what was going on unless Rebecca told them. He lowered his head, feeling defeated. His heart sinking just a little more each time Rebecca let out a sob.

Roe looked up when he saw the two captains emerge from the tarp-covered CP with Rebecca under their arms. They were leading her somewhere and he was going to follow. Rebecca was his partner and a valuable companion, even sticking around during his own dark moments. Roe would be damned if he wasn't around for hers.

He followed them to her foxhole, watching Winters and Nixon guide her in and bundle her up. Rebecca didn't budge one inch as the pulled the blanket over her and took her helmet off. She was in such a deep shock, that the Germans could open up and she wouldn't be aware. Her eyes were glossed over, only the occasional tear rolling down her pale face signified she was alive.

Winters and Nixon walked up to Roe. Both of them knew that he was close to Rebecca, and they couldn't possibly leave her alone now.

"Roe, keep an eye on her. We're going to contact Col. Sink and see what we can do about getting her off the line for a few," Nixon, whispered.

Roe nodded, slowly stepping over to Rebecca's foxhole. Getting off the line for a few days was what she needed. Rebecca had a lot to sort out now, and needed time to grieve, by herself, not with a company of men watching her every move. But, Roe knew she would willingly leave. He certainly knew he wouldn't if someone gave him the opportunity.

Nobody would for that matter. Most Easy guys would die for leaving the line and their buddies.

Roe walked back over to the foxhole and jumped in, sitting next to Rebecca, quietly. He certainly wasn't going to ask any questions. He would simply wait until she was ready to open up.

XXX

Rebecca sat in a still trance. Her mind was dizzy; this couldn't be happening. Her father was getting better, he was supposed to have a new life. What happened?

 _This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening; this is happening._

Roe's soft voice pulled Rebecca from her denial.

"Captain, we should get some lunch."

Rebecca looked up, facing Roe and put on the fakest smile she possibly could. "I'm not hungry, you go and eat."

Roe gave her a concerned stare, there was no way she was over this that quickly. As Roe left, anger began filling Rebecca up to the brim. Why was this happening to her?

 _Why couldn't he have just stopped drinking? Why didn't he try harder? Why is he leaving me?_

Her anger for father only made her feel guilty, making her angrier. Rebecca's lip trembled as hot anger filled tears spilled from her eyes.

"Why did you and mom leave me?" She stifled out through angry sobs.

Inexplicable pain and sadness raged through Rebecca, paralyzing her brain. Rebecca knew she now was an orphan. No mother, no father.

Sadness was replaced with greater anger, and now defiance. Her father couldn't let her suffer this way. He couldn't have such a grip on her emotion, Rebecca wouldn't let him.

 _I don't need him, I can live without him._ Rebecca thought, petulance overpowering her.

She had after all lived on her own for some time now. What difference did it make if her father was with her or not?

Rebecca climbed out of her foxhole, quickly gathering herself, gall and insolence fueling her to move on.

XXX

Dick and Lewis were taken aback when they saw Rebecca entered the CP, seemingly normal. The only signs of an upset were her red and puffy eyes. Both noticed something different in her, something pushing her to carry on.

She sat down on a crate next to the two, who was eyeing her like she was a bomb ready to explode. Dick finally spoke up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dick asked concern etched in his voice.

"I'm fine."

Dick and Lewis looked at each other, both troubled by Rebecca's sudden change in attitude. An hour ago, she couldn't be consoled. Now, she was acting as if nothing had happened. Both of them knew she was bottling up her feelings and trying to push forward.

"Are you sure because-," Nix began before being cut short by Rebecca.

"Nix, really I'm fine." She assured, smiling at the two.

Rebecca's faked contentment only caused more worry to blossom inside of Dick and Lew.

"Becca," Dick started, placidly, "You just found out about this today. There's no shame being out of sorts for a couple."

Anger began bubbling over in Rebecca. Why couldn't they just see she was fine? She was fuming on the inside, but outside she would remain calm.

"Listen, I just got in touch with the Colonel. He approved a 48-hour furlough at battalion. Rest up, relax, sort things out."

"Thank you, but I respectfully decline. I took all the time I need. I have a job to do," Rebecca argued, calmly.

Nixon shook his head, unapproving. He could tell from a mile away that she was collapsing inside. Rebecca was in the anger stage of grief, trying to shove all her emotions down to prove a point.

"But, Becca," Dick began again.

"Richard, I'm fine! I don't want to hear any more about it!"

Both Dick and Lewis were speechless. Neither of them had heard Rebecca cross. They knew what was helping to push forward, spite.

She looked at the two of them, frustrated, and left in a huff.

Nix crossed his arms and sighed. "How long do you think she going to last this way?"

"She won't," Dick assured his jaw clenching.

XXX

Bill Guarnere sat in his hole, going through MG42 rounds. He blew an angry breath at the amount of ammo that had to be thrown out. Even the smallest ding could spell disaster if it was overlooked and used in the machine gun. A jammed machine gun could be the kiss of death during a German attack.

Guarnere was pissed; Patton sent them bunked ammo. More than half was sorted out, deemed unable to use in an old ammunition box.

He threw away another round into the bucket with an exasperated sigh. They might as well fight the Germans with bows and arrow, for Christ Sake.

Guarnere was so far into his thoughts, thinking about giving Patton a piece of his mind, he didn't even notice Roe walking up behind him.

"Hey, Bill, are you busy? I gotta talk to you."

"Nah, Doc, not busy just going through all this shit ammo Patton dropped to us."

Roe looked down at the pile of bad ammo and chuckled. Leave it to Patton. Goes and "rescues" the paratroopers but does a piss poor job at doing it.

"Well, good I need you to talk to Cap'n Clark."

Guarnere raised a brow, holding the belt of ammunition.

"Captain Clark? Becca? What for?"

The medic sighed. "She just found out her father died. I was thinking maybe you could talk to her."

Bill's stomach dropped. _Just in time for New Years._

"Yeah, Doc. I'll do my best."

"Okay," Roe finished, walking away from Guarnere.

Guarnere took another busted round and threw it down into the pile.

"Shit," he cursed.

XXX

Rebecca stomped over to the mess tent, agitated and angry. She didn't understand. Why were they treating her like a child, like a _woman_? If any other man found out a family member had died, she bet her week's pay they wouldn't try to get him off the line. They certainly didn't for Bill Guarnere when his brother got it in the Casino.

She continued to stew, approaching the mess tent. The men caught sight of her and exchanged worried looks and whispers. Rebecca hated being the center of attention in this way. They all looked at her as she got her portion for lunch and continued to stare as she walked away.

Rebecca walked back to her hole so she could leave and escape the looks of concern. She didn't want anyone's pity.

Rebecca sat back down in her hole and forced down her food. Did the food always have to taste like crap?

Midway through a large spoonful, Roe approached her, surprise on his face.

"Cap'n you're up. How're you feeling?"

Rebecca let out a groan. _Why does everyone care so much?_

"Yup." She forced out, trying not to lose her temper at the half Cajun.

Roe looked at her in disbelief. She had gotten up, got food, and seemed to have put herself together. Why the sudden change of heart?

"Uh, right, well I got someone who wants to talk to you."

Rebecca looked up from her tin, scowling. _What is this, some kind out intervention?_

She saw Roe go over and get Guarnere. Rebecca rolled her eyes. _Gee, I wonder what he's going to talk to me about._

Guarnere walked over to Rebecca, hands in his pockets seeming a little nervous. He gave her a sympathetic smile and sat down next to Rebecca.

"Hiya, Cap'n."

"Let me guess, Roe brought to talk to me because you know what it feels like to lose someone you care about."

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," Guarnere voiced concerned.

"I swear to God if someone asked me that one more time, I'm gonna punch their teeth in!"

Guarnere sighed, closing his eyes, asking the Lord for patience.

"I know what you're going through, I wanna help."

"You wanna help me so badly? Help me feel less angry!"

Rebecca stood up and threw her med bag on the ground in frustration. Her anger blinded her, Rebecca had never felt this way before and she certainly didn't handle her mother's death like this.

"I'm angry and hurt. I don't understand!"

Tears welled up in Rebecca's eyes, angry tears. She slumped back over in her foxhole and brought her hands to her face.

Guarnere placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know the anger. I was pissed." He continued. "I was pissed at my brother for getting killed, I was pissed at the Germans for killing him. But, I had my buddies and they were there for me."

Guarnere paused for a moment and looked at Rebecca earnestly.

"We're all here for you. That's what got me through. I had you guys, I had Easy."

Rebecca faced Bill, gratitude flowing from her. She never knew Guarnere could be soft spoken. Rebecca always knew Bill Guarnere as the brash Italian who gave everyone the what for and why is.

"Thank you, Bill," Rebecca croaked out.

Rebecca snatched Bill into a hug. The fiery Sergeant didn't expect it at all and probably wouldn't have let anyone else do it, but for Rebecca, he would do anything. He warmly accepted the embrace, glad to have helped her.

"Hey, Cap'n," Bill started, pulling away from Rebecca's hug, "Why don't you dig in with me tonight?"

XXX

For the rest of the day, Rebecca stuck close to Guarnere. He became somewhat of her protector. Anyone who confronted Rebecca had to go through him. The only time he left her side was for an afternoon combat patrol.

He returned eventually, bringing news that Toye got dinged in the arm by a bullet. Rebecca never thought she'd see the day when Joe Toye got hit. It seemed like luck was instilled in him after surviving two grenade explosions on D-Day, until now.

Toye was back at the aid station, a plus side to Patton's "rescue" mission. Rebecca hoped the man had the good sense to stay until he was better, but she knew Toye and that was impossible. Most Easy guys would rather die on the line then get injured and leave the company. The camaraderie in Easy was so deep seeded, being away from the line and leaving the men was worse than the actual injury. Rebecca swore some guys would come back on crutches on still have an open wound just to stay with their buddies.

Rebecca went through the motions of the remainder of the day, doing everything in her power to push down the thoughts of her father. The only reminder was the letter she received from John, explaining the situation and asking what she was going to do for a funeral and all his belongings.

 _Dear Rebecca,_

 _I am so sorry that you had to find out this news so far away from home. I truly thought your dad was doing so much better, but the doctors told me after the fact, he was probably feeling what they call "withdrawals" and depression from the withdrawals. He was out one day in the shed, cleaning his rifle when I heard a gunshot. I never would have thought he had used it to kill himself._

 _I'm going to be staying around your home to figure out the funeral costs and what do with your father's stuff. I'll let you know what's going on as best as I can. I'm so sorry for your loss._

 _Sincerely,_

 _John_

A few stray tears rolled down Rebecca's cheek as she read how her father killed himself and why. Her father suffered alone and she couldn't be there to help. Guilt washed over her.

She decided she wanted all of her father's valuables to be sold in an auction, but in an old study in the house, was all her mother's belongings. Clothes, pictures, jewelry, and other old keepsakes that Rebecca just couldn't bring herself to sell. She would have to deal with it after the war. Now wasn't the time to go through a list of her mother's things.

Rebecca decided on having a small Catholic funeral at the local church in town and buried her father next to her mother. She was well versed on funeral procedures. Rebecca was old enough to remember what her mother's funeral was like.

The final step for situating the funeral was money. Rebecca had all her backpay sent to John so he could pay for the casket, burial, and the graveyard spot.

After dealing with the minutiae of the burial and such, Rebecca went right back to her priorities on the front. Word passed around that Easy would be overlooking Foy again, much to many of the men's frustration.

A good majority didn't understand why they were watching the town instead of taking it. Rebecca however, didn't complain. She just went along with whatever had to be done; anything to keep her mind in the here and now.

XXX

Rebecca sat in her foxhole with Guarnere, eating dinner, a new wave of guilt washing over her. After cooling down, she felt horrible for how she had treated Dick and Lew.

At the time, anger and spite were fueling her; now that Guarnere spoke to her, Rebecca realized just how much of a bitch she was being to everyone. She still wasn't exactly facing her feelings. Rebecca continued to push them down deep inside of her, just for the sake of the current situation, but that didn't excuse her actions.

Rebecca still really hadn't told Guarnere much of what followed after finding out the news from that morning, but she knew he would tell her to get up off her ass and swallow her pride (in the most respectful way a sergeant could address a captain, that is).

She moaned pulled herself from her blanket with Guarnere, her body instantly shivering at the loss of warmth.

"Where are you going, Captain?"

Rebecca sighed. "I have to apologize to some people."

Guarnere gave her a knowing look. If anyone knew what she meant it was him. It wasn't too long ago he was hell in a handbasket after his brother got killed. The Germans weren't the only hostile force Easy had to deal with on D-Day.

He nodded to her and Rebecca glowered, feeling awful she even had to apologize in the first place.

She made her way over to CP, her tomato red face of embarrassment keeping her plenty warm.

Rebecca approached the small shelter, a lump in her throat. She stared at it, hesitant to go in, but willed herself into the entrance.

Dick and Lewis were eating as well, heating up some powdered milk from the supper version K-ration. Both noticed the nurse's presence and looked up.

Rebecca felt like their eyes bore into her.

"I, uh, well I-I just wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning," Rebecca began, her eyes dropping. "I know you both were just trying to help."

Dick stood, placing his tin of milk down on a crate and walked over to Rebecca.

"Why don't you come and sit down with us." He offered, placing a hand on her shoulder.

XXX

Rebecca spent the rest of the night with Dick and Lewis. They offered to listen to her problems more times than one, but Rebecca still politely refused. Being with two people who cared about her was enough and if any time she needed it, Rebecca had a support system.

They respected her wish to not discuss the topic anymore and for a brief moment, everything seemed okay.

At the end of the night, Rebecca parted ways with them, remembering Guarnere's offer. She walked through the cold night, looking forward to some warmth from the fiery Italian.

On her way, she crossed paths with Lip, who was probably reporting to CP, to do Dike's job.

The First Sergeant stopped. He was one of the very few that Guarnere told about what happened that morning and he wanted to offer his condolences. Lip knew what it was like to lose a parent.

Lipton stopped his path towards CP.

"Captain Clark, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your dad."

Rebecca stopped to face him, a tiny bit of sadness closing her features. "Thank you, Lipton. I'm assuming Guarnere told you?"

Lipton eyed her sympathetically. "Yes, ma'am. I hope you're not mad."

Rebecca smiled slightly, assuring she was okay with it. "He must've had a good reason."

Lipton looked down, a tiny bit of sadness creeping its way onto his features. "Yes ma'am, I lost my father when I was a kid."

She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing the pain all too well. "I'm sorry to hear that Lip."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you if you needed someone to talk," Lip trailed off.

Rebecca's mouth curved into a half smile. "Thank you, Carwood."

He flashed her a bright smile. "You're welcome Cap'n. I'm not just here for you either; the whole company is."

Lipton smiled at her and continued walking to CP. Rebecca carried on to her hole, tears shimmering in her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Your guy's feedback on the last chapter has been amazing. I was super nervous to release that one because it's a pretty heavy once to drop on you guys but hearing that you liked it let me know I made a good choice. Please continue to let me know how I'm doing. More chapters are to come and, trust me, it gets crazier. Strap in! :3


	26. Chapter 26 - Breakdown

Last Time: Rebecca begins to come to terms with her loss.

"No one ever told me grief felt so like fear." - C.S. Lewis

Now: Rebecca will soon learn a whole new level of pain.

* * *

 **Chapter 26 - Breakdown**

Rebecca learned the next morning that the Brass called Easy once again to push back the Germans through the Bulge. Easy was sent to clear the Bois Jacques, the woods near the town of Foy, essentially to prepare for the eventual assault on Foy itself. They set out at first light.

The attack met little resistance and Easy Company suffered a few casualties. Rebecca was relieved, to say the least. Men were dropping like flies and the thousand-yard march intimidated her into believing it would be another blood bath. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself wrong.

XXX

Rebecca threw down her entrenching tool with a euphoric sigh. Digging in the frozen ground was no small task and it left her and mostly everyone completely winded and sweaty. At least she was finally done. Rebecca sat down a wooden crate breathing heavy. The only downside to working up such a sweat was the inevitable chill everyone caught once they cooled down. Rebecca might not have been so tired if Dick and Nix weren't called away by Sink. Many hands make light work, but when four of those hands disappeared, Rebecca had to dig the frozen ground herself.

She reached to the top of the wall just dug and grabbed her canteen. Rebecca took a swig of the ice water and rested her beanie covered head on the dirt wall. The body heat she worked up soon wore off and a chill wracked over her body. Rebecca was comfortable where she was, but was soon freezing enough that she decided to pull herself up and get her blood flowing. It was too dangerous to sit around and shiver. Rebecca lectured the men enough not to do it, now she had to practice what she preached.

Rebecca passed a few foxholes seeing how sweaty and tired most of the men were getting, reminding them to stay warm. Getting all sweaty was the quickest way to frostbite. As she made her way through each hole, Rebecca mentally noted who was still without winter clothing kits; for the most part, it was everyone. Patton promised winter clothing and no one had received a single glove to prove it. She needed to talk to Nix about this.

Rebecca continued walking around, her hands shoved in her pockets. She buried her face inside her jacket trying to warm her frozen face and breathed deep. The brief warmth from Rebecca's breath flooded through her face and to her chest, quickly fading. Semi-satisfied with the small bit of warmth, Rebecca looked up and met the cold air that sent a chill through her. Becoming familiar with the cold air once again, Rebecca spotted Lipton and Buck standing near a half dug foxhole. She hadn't seen Buck in quite a while. The urge to talk to him drew a smile on Rebecca's face as she made her way over to the pair.

"Brown and Stevenson." Rebecca heard Lipton reply.

Her smile faded. Rebecca knew what the names meant and guessed Lipton was reporting the casualties during the march. Luckily for them, it wasn't anything too serious. No one died on that march and Rebecca thanked God for that.

She reached the frustrated First Sergeant and Lieutenant who were obviously venting about Dike. Beside them were Malarkey and Shifty still digging in. Rebecca's smile morphed into worry.

"Becca, you seen Dike around?"

Rebecca sarcastically chuckled. Nobody knew where the hell he was. Quite frankly she was glad he was never around her. Rebecca couldn't stand being around the man. Not only did he have not a single goddamn clue what the hell he was doing, but Dike also had no problem in expressing his unhappiness towards taking orders from Rebecca. Just in the way he talked to her, Rebecca knew very well Dike didn't like it.

"That, I don't know. I've been digging the CP for a while now and I don't think I saw him pass by at all. I don't even think I saw him during the march, but that could be just me."

"Where's Dike, where the hell is he? Where the hell does he ever go?"

Malarkey was crouched down in the half-dug hole, clearly not afraid to show his contempt for Dike.

"I don't know, but I wish he'd stay the hell there." He vented.

"It'd be nice if he took Lt. Shames with him too," Shifty said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

Lipton looked at Rebecca apologetically. He knew that Rebecca was easy going, but it was improper to talk like that in front of an officer. It didn't do a damn bit of good to complain about their officers. It only wedged a further divide between the enlisted men and them.

"Shut up, boys."

Rebecca laughed. She didn't care, in fact, she agreed. The company was running itself without Dike and it wouldn't make a difference if he was there or not.

"Shutting up, Sarge," Malarkey obeyed, clenching his cigarette through his teeth.

Rebecca smiled, amused, but the ringing out of a shot soon sent the mood fading. Buck guided Becca into the half-dug hole, Lipton right behind them.

Everyone in the foxhole had their rifles pointing at the direction the sound rang out from except for Rebecca, who merely looked over the side of the half-dug foxhole trying to see where the noise came from.

"Patrol?" Malarkey asked.

"No, we would of heard," Lipton confirmed.

Everyone was looking around, confused. One shot was a far cry from a patrol or even sniper.

"One man, maybe a sniper," Buck guessed.

"That was no rifle," Shifty drawled, his own rifle pressed up to his cheek.

If it wasn't a patrol and not a sniper then it could only be on thing. It was somebody in the company fooling around or purposely shooting himself to get off the line. As horrible as it sounded many men who were so fed up with the cold and lack of supply, they would resort to harming themselves to get away. Woe be it to them if Rebecca found out.

"What do you see, Shift?" Lipton asked.

Shifty had his gaze locked on the woods before him. "Nobody out there."

 _How could he even tell?_ Rebecca wondered. The fog was laid down as thick as a blanket and it was snowing.

"You sure?" Buck asked, unsure himself.

"Uh-huh," Shifty confirmed, his sights still trained on the woods before him.

Then, the sound of Hashey called out, finalizing what really happened. He was probably wandering around trying to find out what happened himself.

"Aw, Jesus. It's Hoob, he's shot!"

"Sniper?" Buck called out to him.

"No, no he shot himself!"

Rebecca's heart began to race as she bounded out the foxhole with Buck and Lip, towards Hoob. A little bit of anger piercing through her. What the hell did he shoot himself for?

"Medic!" Someone called out, but Rebecca was already there.

"Captain!" Perconte yelled, desperate for help.

Rebecca crouched down beside him. She did a once over on his body, unable to find any wound.

"What happened?" Buck demanded, falling by Rebecca's side.

"It's my fucking leg!" Hoob groaned, writhing in pain, "It just went off."

Rebecca looked down at his legs and saw the blood staining his left. She touched it with her finger, examining the light red liquid, swearing under her breath.

"Shit." It was arterial blood. This definitely wasn't on purpose. No man would inflict a lethal wound on themselves just to get off the line.

"What the hell are you doing with a loaded gun in your pants?" Buck demanded, taking the Luger away from Hoobler.

"Shit, Buck, I wasn't touching it or nothing!" He explained.

Rebecca realized time was of the essence and reached for her med bag to get her scissors. She pawed around her bag, frantically unable to find them. Rebecca grabbed the bag, looking around once more.

"Fuck, I can't find my scissors! Someone get me a knife!"

"Where are you hit Hoob?" Lip asked again.

"My leg!"

Someone handed Rebecca a knife and she began cutting the pant leg. It was no easy task. Hoobler was wearing a lot of layers. Rebecca knew she couldn't do this on her own, she needed help and quick.

"Someone call for Doc Roe. Now!" She ordered.

"Medic!" Perconte screamed out again.

Everyone huddled around Hoobler were holding him down, trying to calm him, but it was still utter chaos. There was nothing calm about the situation. Hoobler was in too much pain to be reasoned with.

"It hurts like a son of a bitch." Hoobler hissed. "I think I maybe hit bone."

Rebecca wished that were only true. When she finally got the pants opens the blood gushed up with a gurgling sound. It was definitely the artery.

"Doc!" Lipton called out again.

Rebecca took out a tourniquet from her bag and began tying it around his thigh. The bleeding was so heavy she couldn't even see where to start.

"Warm him up!" Rebecca ordered.

Hoobler needed to keep as much body heat as possible. He was losing too much blood and it was evident in the way his skin's complexion was turning a sickly white.

Finally, like a Godsend, Roe came sprinting through the woods, ready to help.

"Captain, Sergeant," Roe said, making his entrance. "What's the damage Cap'n?"

"Not good, artery for sure. In the left leg."

Rebecca looked closely at the wound trying to find where the bleeding was coming from to clamp the artery. She couldn't.

Everyone was around Hoobler doing the best they could to keep him calm and warm, but it only made the situation more chaotic. Buck was telling him how tough he was, trying to get him to fight harder. Lipton was telling Hoob how great of a shot he was, trying to distract him. The others were throwing whatever articles of clothing they had on to him, to keep him warm. Everyone acting in a last ditch effort to save their friend.

"How are we doing, Docs?" Buck impatiently asked.

They both looked at each other confirming their thoughts.

"We can't see a damn thing, we've got to get him back to an aid station," Roe said, pressing on the wound.

"Let's get ready to move him!" Buck ordered.

Rebecca was placing a bandage on Hoobler's quivering leg. It slowed down, then stopped. Everyone suddenly got quiet. Rebecca looked at Hoob and saw his glassy stare. He was gone. Rebecca looked away, sadness and anger filling her up. This didn't have to happen. Tears rolled down her face, she didn't care.

Roe was the only one who wasn't aware and continued working on a dead man.

"Doc," Buck uttered trying to get Roe's attention. "Doc!"

Roe looked up and saw Hoobler's slack face, his eyes still open, and sat back on her legs. Everything was eerily quiet, the only sounds of their previous efforts were from their heavy breathing. They had just lost a dear friend, a Toccoa man.

Rebecca slowly got up with Lipton, feeling like a giant anvil had just collapsed on her.

"We need to report this to Dike." She mumbled.

XXX

Rebecca and Lip walked around looking for Dike for nearly two hours. By the time they circled back around to where Hoob died, his body was already taken back to the aid station. Lipton and Rebecca searched the OP, around the CP, almost every foxhole, and still no sign of Dike.

"Should we just go to Winters, ma'am?"

"Yes," Rebecca breathed out in frustration.

Dike was gone and didn't even know that one of his men were dead. A little bit more of hatred for the man crept into Rebecca's heart.

XXX

"He was wearing so many clothes, we couldn't tell how bad he was bleeding," Lipton told Winters.

Rebecca glanced away from the two captains, a far off look on her face. She just couldn't believe it. Hoobler was one of the originals, a veteran, and a good man. Now he was just another number added to the long list of Easy casualties.

Dick glanced at Rebecca in between Lipton's words. Her mournful look only confirmed to him that there was really nothing they could've done.

"By the time we got him to the aid station, he was already dead."

Rebecca looked up only uttering a little bit of clarity as to what happened. "The bullet hit the main artery in the leg."

"Oh, hell, guys. It wouldn't have made a difference if you had known. Cut that main artery in the leg, that's, that's it," Nixon consoled.

"Yes, sir," Lipton confirmed.

Rebecca didn't bother answering, she knew, and they knew she knew.

"Well, I'm gonna go back and make sure the boys are all dug in, sir."

Lipton raised a hand to his mouth, blowing some warm into it and placed his helmet back on his head.

"Lip?" Dick asked.

"Sir?"

The pale captain looked up to Lipton again, shivering. "Where's Dike?"

Rebecca sat down next to Nix, disgusted. They had no idea where the hell he was, but the loyal First Sergeant would look through all hell and creation for Captain Winters anyways. Dike was off somewhere, probably at regiment, boasting up a storm about how great his company was; and he didn't even know Hoobler was dead.

"You wanna see him, sir?"

"No, I just would have expected to get this kind of news from him."

"Well, we were there, sir. I figured it might as well be us."

With that Lipton left.

Rebecca knew that was a crock of crap. They had searched everywhere for Dike and they couldn't find him. Someone had to tell Winters what happened. What she couldn't understand is why Lip was going to bat for him. Dike didn't deserve to be defended.

Dick and Nix glanced at each other, then to Rebecca.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Becca. You did all you could," Dick said, shaking with every word.

She looked at the frozen man and got up, sitting down next to him and wrapping herself around him. Dick needed to stay healthy for men. The moral of the men would plummet if he got taken off the line because of sickness.

"I know, but it was so unnecessary."

XXX

Dusk was slowly creeping its way through the fog covered forest making the frigid air more unbearable. Night time was usually when Rebecca found herself at the epitome of anxiety. Night time brought along colder temperatures unveiling new opportunities for the men to get sick. Not to the mention that the Krauts seemed to love shelling the absolute shit out of Easy at night.

Rebecca sat on a wooden crate in the tarp-covered CP impatiently awaiting her steaming cup of powdered milk. She needed to do her nightly rounds before sacking out but found herself too frozen to even lift her arms from their permanent resting spot in her pockets. Rebecca had to get something hot in her.

She looked at Dick eagerly waiting for some form of warmth to soothe her chilled body. Dick stirred the liquid trying to dissolve it under the flickering flame. After pouring some into Nix's, he poured the milk into her's.

"Thanks." She sighed, taking the tin.

Rebecca placed the tin at her lips enjoying the warmth from small puffs of steam the cup emitted.

"You know what Dike's problem is, don't you?" Dick asked, pouring Nix a tin of milk.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Of course, they were talking about Dike. That's all anyone did. Talking their inept CO only made her nighttime anxiety peak.

"Mmm," Nix groaned in response, probably not quick to follow Dick's scattershot topic change.

"He's just another one of those arrogant rich jerks from Yale," Dick explained, slyly looking at Rebecca than to Nix.

Rebecca chuckled into her tin. It was rare to see Dick in a jesting mood. If the man wasn't freezing his ass off, he was busy with the day to day duties of battalion XO.

"Oh, God, not another one of those," Nix sarcastically fretted.

Dick smiled and chuckled, mixing his milk around trying to dissolve the powder completely.

Rebecca, however, speculated differently. "That's not the problem. He's another version of Sobel, just more incompetent."

"Yeah, I think the two would get along just fine," Nix agreed.

"Division's not gonna let me replace him just cause I got a bad feeling about him. Even if they would, who'd I put in his place?" Dick continued.

 _If only it were that simple._ Rebecca thought.

"Shames?" Dick threw the name up in the air suggestively.

Rebecca pictured Shames in her head. The quick-tempered man popped into her head, bringing her back to the times she witnessed Shames yelling at the men as a way of dictating orders. It was so strange the way he felt the need to holler at them all the time. Rebecca watched him once get so worked up about God knows what, she thought the vein that was bulging out of his head was going to pop.

"Shames' seen too many war movies. Thinks he has to yell all the time."

He had neither the patience nor the experience to lead the company. Plus, none of the men would take him seriously. Often times, after going off on one of his spiels, Rebecca caught the men laughing behind the man's back.

"Or Peacock? God bless him, no one tries harder, but he's not cut out to take men into combat." Dick continued

Rebecca's face scrunched up at the thought of the man. She was still salty about what happened on the patrol. She couldn't bear to think of Peacock leading Easy. And, he was almost as bad a navigator as Sobel.

"I'm sure as hell not gonna make him Company CO when I don't even want him as a platoon leader."

Nix spoke up from his silence. "What about Compton?"

"He's the only real choice."

Rebecca knew it too, but the man was off his game. He wasn't the same since he got back from the hospital.

"Buck's a real combat leader," Dick carried on, "But, you know, I want Easy Company to have at least one experienced platoon leader. Not that it matters anyway cause I can't get rid of Dike."

"Well, we all know who you'd like to have running Easy," Nix started, slurping a spoonful in his mouth.

Rebecca looked at Dick, sympathetically. She knew how much it killed him to see Easy fall into the hands of such awful officers.

"Trouble is it's not your job anymore, Dick. We gotta find somebody."

Dick sighed to himself and looked down bleakly. He was at constant odds with himself, knowing it wasn't his job anymore, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that Easy should be his priority. Maybe it was just the history he had with the company

XXX

Rebecca exited the CP, in an attempt to quell her anxiety, and readied herself for her nightly rounds. The wind whistled past her ears forcing Rebecca to pull down the beanie under her helmet a little more.

As she scuffed through the snow, distant figures of Easy guys reinforcing their foxholes came into view. The men were hammering away at tree branches blasted off the trunks from Kraut artillery, trying to give themselves protection from them, but also from the ever-falling snow.

Rebecca looked around at the guys, scanning over their work. The amount of stress they were putting on themselves as night approached concerned her. Working up a sweat as the temperature dropped only invited pneumonia and frostbite.

Her meticulous eye quickly caught Buck Compton climbing out of Guarnere's and Babe's hole. He must have seen her too, as the man began making his way over to her.

"Captain!"

A small smile crept on Rebecca's face as she stopped. "Hiya, Buck."

The blonde haired lieutenant approached Rebecca, swinging an arm over her shoulder.

"What brings you here to these parts, Becca?"

Rebecca looked up at his pale face amused. Even though Buck seemed off since his return, he still managed to bring a smile to her face.

"Ah, you know, just doing my rounds for the night; freezing my ass off." She joked.

"Company?" Buck asked smiling down at her.

"Sure," Rebecca beamed up at him continuing her pace

As Buck and Rebecca, he removed his arm from around her shoulder. Rebecca looked up at him curiously. Buck became more serious all of a sudden. His blue eyes glossed over and his smile quickly melted. His body tensed.

"Buck? Something wrong?" Becca asked, concern etching her words.

Buck came to a halt, his eyes focusing on her. It was like something flicked a switch in his mind. "Promise me you won't do anything to get yourself knocked out of this thing. Not after what happened to Hoobler."

"Where did this come from all of sudden?"

He looked out into the space letting his words resonate with Rebecca. "Nothing, nothing. Let's just go."

The pair started their route talking to a few guys on the way. Rebecca said her peace to each guy, reminding them to stay warm, keep their feet covered and so on. It was her normal routine. However, her focus remained mostly on Buck. Every hole they visited, he reminded every guy not to try anything stupid and get themselves hurt.

Rebecca and Buck found themselves at Luz's hole where Penk and Muck also happened to be digging in for the night. Rebecca watched from the side as Buck began reading them some sort of riot act. It was the same as it had been before. Don't do anything stupid.

"I'm serious," Buck continued.

"Sure thing Buck," Penk assured huddled next to Muck. "We got it, right?" Penk nudged asking Muck who seemed too cold to bother.

"We got it," Muck reiterated.

"Alright." He said, seemingly okay with their responses. "George," Buck continued on again.

The Rhode Islander lifted his head up to the face Buck only able to muster up an "uh huh".

"Nothing stupid, Buck."

Rebecca watched Buck get up and almost like they hadn't been walking together, he just walked off, leaving her flustered.

Part of Rebecca wanted to go after him, but the other part knew she had to finish checking in on the guys. She sighed to herself, choosing the latter. Rebecca couldn't worry about Buck, not now. She started walking again, not before Luz looked up at her.

"Hey, Cap'n? Is Buck okay?"

She was a little taken aback by the question but answered as honestly as she could. "I don't know."

XXX

"Captain Nixon, sir?"

An unfamiliar voice called out to for the intelligence officer, rising him from his sleep. Nixon opened one eye at the call of name, hoping whoever was calling for him would go away.

"Captain Nixon, sir?"

He was wrong. Nixon was not a morning person. As his name was called again, he threw his blanket off of him and groggily roused himself.

"What?" He called out, annoyed.

"Good morning, sir, sorry to disturb you." The young man continued, leaning in and handing Nix and piece of paper. "This came from Division."

Nixon looked up at the young trooper and begrudgingly took the letter. He leaned back into his foxhole only to see the delivery boy still standing, waiting for some kind of signal for him to leave.

"Alright."

With a quick wave of his hand, the young trooper was gone. Nix leaned back on the wall of his hole and tore open the letter. His eyes scanned the paper and widened. He had an idea.

XXX

Rebecca sat in the CP watching Dick as he shaved. She still didn't understand why he bothered doing such a thing. The number of cuts under his chin grew more every day from Dick trying to finish in his haste. The water he used to wet his razor was ice cold. His face was practically frozen by the time he was done.

While watching Dick make a mess of his face she spot Nix walking towards them, carrying a piece of paper.

"Morning." He called out them both, holding up the paper.

Dick finished a strip on his face and swirled his razor in the freezing water, looking at his friend's mysterious paper.

"Lew, eviction notice?" Dick said, continuing the fast strokes of his razor.

"Not quite, but I think I got something that will help you with your leadership problem."

Rebecca stood up and walked over to the two, intrigued. Maybe Division finally realized what a god awful CO Dike was and he was leaving.

"Oh, Dike's being transferred?" Dick asked, stopping briefly.

"No, I can't help you with that."

Rebecca's shoulders slumped. Nixon smiled at her brief disappointment.

"Sorry, kid," Nix said to Rebecca, patting her shoulder as he made his way around into the CP.

"But," Nix carried on, "Division has decided to pluck one officer from each regiment that served in the heroic defense of Bastogne, send him back to the States on a 30-day furlough."

Nixon ducked into the CP and continued on. "Get him out banging the drum for the war bond drive, that kind of thing."

Rebecca and Dick turned around the face Nix as he entered.

"It turns out, I've been plucked." He finished, handing the paper over to Dick as he wiped the face cream off his face.

Rebecca looked at him confused. How in the world was Nix leaving a good thing?

Dick took the paper and began reading it over. "Hey, that's fantastic, Lew, good for you."

Rebecca continued to look at both of them like they had ten heads. Where was this going?

"Thank you." He resounded.

Finally, Dick began thinking the same thing as Rebecca and looked up from the paper.

"How in the world does your leaving help me?"

"Please, explain," Rebecca urged.

Nix looked at the two amused. "It doesn't, I'm not going. I've already seen the States, I grew up there. That's why I came to Europe. Just wished they told me there was a war on."

Rebecca and Dick chuckled, both relieved their friend wasn't leaving them.

"Anyway, the point is, this thing's wasted on me. But, I'm sure we can find an officer somewhere in this battalion who could use a long trip home."

They all looked at each other, the wheels in their mind turning. What officer burdened too Easy could possibly be sent home?

XXX

A unanimous vote between the three decided that Lieutenant Peacock would win the trip back home. Rebecca was unsure of the fact if Dick and Nix knew about her utter contempt for the man. If they didn't, they certainly did now. Rebecca couldn't help but crack a toothy grin as they told her she would be the one informing Peacock of his prize.

After informing him and then gathering up the men, Rebecca watched as his platoon congratulated him. Unbeknownst to him, they were happy he was leaving, not for the right reasons though.

"Congratulations, Lt. Peacock," said Bull, shaking his hand. "I can't think of anyone who deserved this more."

A few more men chalked up lines of the same essence to the blushing Lieutenant. It was Luz, however, who after immediately expressing his joy, locked eyes with Rebecca and gave her the biggest shit eating grin to which she just shook her head and chuckled in response.

All together they silently did a congratulatory Hipp hip hurray, patting Peacock on the back and shaking his hands a few more times. The poor guy couldn't even pick up on their sarcasm.

With that Peacock began walking away, his platoon dispersing. As he did, instead of heading towards the jeep that was to take him away, Peacock walked over to Rebecca.

She was a little taken aback by the monotone look that now captivated his once happy face. He stopped before Rebecca, taking off his helmet, looking down at his feet.

"I have been awarded this furlough, I feel certain, because of the great job you all did in Holland and here, and the only thing I can say is, thanks."

Rebecca was stunned. She was at a total loss for words. Maybe this was his own way of apologizing to her and the guys for what happened with Julian. Maybe he knew he wasn't well liked, or maybe he managed to pull his head out of his ass at the last minute, but for some reason, Rebecca felt his genuine sincerity.

She stammered, not able to formulate the right thing to say. "You're welcome, congrats."

Peacock nodded his head in thanks before putting his helmet back on and finally leaving.

Rebecca just hoped that wherever he was going, whatever he planned on doing when he got home, he was more useful there than he was here.

XXX

Late in the afternoon on January 3, Easy Company returned to their old position overlooking Foy after being in the Bois Jacques. When they came back, there were signs of tree bursts everywhere meaning that the Germans had shelled the place to hell.

Despite the fact that it was obvious the Krauts were going to shell the area again, it was decided that Easy would hold the line right where they were and to fortify their foxholes.

Rebecca and Roe were digging in, trying to give their foxholes more cover before the inevitable attack. Both medics were having a hell of a time breaking off branches and covering their foxholes because their hands were so damn cold.

"This place reminds me of the haunted forest in Wizard of Oz," Rebecca said to Roe.

Roe chuckled as he attempted to dig into the hard ground.

"Maybe, we'll get lucky and some flying monkeys will drop some artillery on the Krauts for us," she continued.

"Yeah, maybe," Roe said, pulling a tree branch near to him.

Rebecca sat on the edge of their foxhole, panting from the strenuous workout when she saw Lipton approach them.

"Cap'n, how are you doing?" He asked, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Oh, just fine, Lip. Digging this foxhole ain't getting any easier but we'll manage."

Lipton looked absolutely frozen. Aside from his bright red nose, he was completely pale and his lips were practically blue. If it weren't for him, Easy would really be up shits creek without a paddle. Because of Dike's continuous ineptitude, Lip had really been pulling double of his fair share of duties.

"Do you happen to know where Lieutenant Dike might be?" Lipton asked.

"Where's Dike?" must've been the second most common question asked by Easy Company. Poor Lip was probably the one who asked it the most.

"If I knew I would tell ya, Lip." Rebecca sighed picking up her shovel again.

He shook his head. Rebecca could tell Lip was practically pulling his hair out trying to keep tabs on Dike while simultaneously doing most of his duties. The poor guy would have gray hairs by the time the war was over.

"Alright, could you keep an eye out for me?"

"Will do," Rebecca said.

After Lip walked off to check on the other guys, Rebecca and Roe continued digging in and beefing up the cover of their foxhole. Once they deemed it good enough. Both medics sat, waiting.

Rebecca could see the town in front of her. There was no sign of Germans, only the abandoned houses and hay piles covered in snow. She wondered what the little village must have been like before the war.

Rebecca was snatched from her thoughts when she heard a distinct boom in the distance followed by the screaming of an artillery shell. Her blood ran cold.

"INCOMING, TAKE COVER!" She heard Lipton scream.

The first round that hit, shook the ground like an earthquake. Bursts of trees and dirt exploded all around her, yet, all she could do was cower in her foxhole until it was over.

One after another, rounds continued to go off turning the world around into hell on earth.

The worst part was the absolute dread that filled Rebecca wondering if her foxhole was going to be the one hit. She was terrified.

Just as soon as it started, it was over. But to Rebecca and everyone else, it felt like forever.

Rebecca and Roe were panting like crazy, a side effect from the adrenaline rush. It wasn't until a few seconds later, she thought she heard someone wailing in the distance.

"Do you hear that?" Rebecca asked, frantically.

"Yeah." Roe was abruptly cut off by the sound of more fire coming down on them.

"FUCK!" Rebecca screamed out.

Someone was hit and she couldn't get to them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the barrage stopped. Rebecca's ears were ringing and her mind raced. She needed to find who was hit.

"Captain, stay down!" Roe yelled.

All was quiet for a few moments until the broken and loud yell for a medic pierced the forest.

It sounded like Buck.

Rebecca and Roe bounded from their hole sprinting with their gear to the cry for help. God she hoped Buck was hit too bad.

Her legs felt as heavy as bricks, but she kept on running. Finally, they got to the caller and it was Buck. But it wasn't him who got hit.

On the ground lay Guarnere and Toye, unconscious and limp like a couple of ragdolls. Their legs were torn up and the blood was stained red under them.

Rebecca could only stand and look at them in horror. Joe's right leg was completely blown off and was laying a few feet from him. Bill's was just barely hanging on by a thread.

 _Not them. Please, God, not them._

"Come on, I'll start with Joe."

Once the two men came to, an evac team was called to get them the hell out of there.

Rebecca worked on Bill, silently while Roe took care of Joe's leg with the help of Malarkey.

She couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she attempted to work on Bill's leg.

"Aw, come on Becca. Don't get all female on me."

"I'm sorry, Bill." A tear rolled down her cheek.

As she stood by him on the ground, Bill wiped a stray tear from her cheek, then grabbed her hand tightly.

"I'm gonna be alright, sweetheart. Just remember what we talked about."

Rebecca had never felt more helpless in that situation than she did now.

"Bill, you're going first," Roe said,

The men carrying the stretchers approached to take Bill. Rebecca backed away.

"Hey, Lip, they got old Guarnere this time," Bill said, still managing to joke around as his leg was barely being held together by a string.

Rebecca turned towards Lipton, a look of distraught all over her face. She watched as Bill cried out in pain while the evac team hauled him onto the stretcher.

"Hey, Joe, I told you I'd beat you back to the States. Becca, you take care of yourself, doll."

She watched him being taken away, she saw Lip and Luz's rattled faces. They just lost Joe and Bill. Two of the most influential Toccoa men.

 _Why, God, was this happening?_

As soon as Rebecca finished her work, she looked over and saw Buck sitting down on a fallen tree trunk. He stood motionlessly and his eyes were glazed over.

Rebecca walked over to him and sat down next to him. She looked at his deserted blue eyes. When she saw all hope and life lost in his eyes, Rebecca's heart broke one final time.

"Don't come over here if you're gonna tell me everything's gonna be alright," Buck croaked out.

"No, no, I'm not," she said, her voice breaking.

Rebecca placed her hands over her mouth to try and stifle her sobs. She leaned over looking down at the snow, dirtied by the overturned ground by artillery fire. Rebecca's tears fell from her eyes onto the whiteness under her.

She continued to sob until Buck pulled her into his chest and they both grieved together.

XXX

Rebecca sat in her foxhole, numb. She had no tears left to cry anymore. When Roe saw herself and Buck sitting together on the toppled tree trunk, crying, he brought her back to their foxhole and immediately decided to get Captain Winters.

Rebecca felt like a ghost; like she was sleeping with her eyes open and could see everything but couldn't move a muscle.

After Roe covered her up with a blanket, he went on his way to get Captain Winters. He knew she couldn't be out here like this.

He got to CP as quickly as he could and entered the tarp covered fort.

"Captain Winters, sir?"

XXX

Winters walked with Roe to his shared foxhole with Rebecca. He knew this was going to happen. He knew she could only bend so far until she broke.

When he got to her, Rebecca was sitting in the hole, her knees up to her chest, staring off into the distance.

"Rebecca?"

No answer.

"Rebecca, you're being taken off the line."

No objection of any kind.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, there you go. Rebecca has officially met her breaking point. Sorry for the late upload. I just finished school and had to move out of my suite on my usual upload day. I will keep new chapters coming as much as I can now that I'm out of school for summer break. Thank you guys so much for all the support for this story. Reading your comments offering support has been amazing. As always, please let me know how I'm doing. Your feedback means the world. :3


	27. Chapter 27 - Her Own Kind of Respectable

Last Time: Easy Company suffers another tremendous loss and Rebecca reaches her breaking point.

"We may not have it all together but together we have it all." - Unknown

Now: Rebecca is taken off the line trying to find her purpose now that she has lost so much.

* * *

 **Chapter 27 - Her Own Kind of Respectable**

Rebecca sat in the jeep silently as she was taken off the line. She didn't want to go but she knew Dick and Nix wouldn't let her stay.

So, she agreed to go to the battalion hospital outside the line for some R&R but she wasn't going to be put down as unable to return like Buck. She had to come back.

The jeep approached the small town that was using an old boarding school as the makeshift battalion hospital. Everything was pretty much destroyed around her. All the shops and homes were had bombed out windows and caved in roofs. Even the makeshift hospital had windows that had to be covered with wood and part of the roof with a tarp.

Rebecca stepped out of the jeep and watched as it pulled away, feeling as though a piece of her was going with it. She hated that she had to be forced to go to the battalion hospital instead of on the line where she belonged.

Letting out a sigh of defeat, she swung her duffle bag over her shoulder and walked up to the entrance of the school. From what she could, the school was most likely a private boarding school for the wealthy to send their children.

When Rebecca walked in, and the large wooden doors slammed behind her, she couldn't help but feel like she was in a haunted house. The main entrance was lit with one flickering light and the halls that lead to other parts of the school were so poorly lit that Rebecca could barely see two feet in front of her. All the windows were boarded up so the minimal that existed inside light couldn't escape through the panes of glass and be seen by German bombers up in the air.

It wasn't the light only that made the school so eerie. There were clear remnants of what was once a school all over the place like posters for events, a school calendar, and even pictures of the staff and students and different school events. It was like being in one giant cemetery. A chill went down Rebecca's spine at the thought of how many children might have been killed in the very halls she stood in.

Not wanting to stay another moment in the abandoned entrance, Rebecca began walking around to find some hospital staff. As she walked around, she could see every room was being used for something. What looked like a conference room was turned into an OR, the principal's office was where the head surgeon was occupying, and the dining hall was where a good majority of the patients were.

She had no idea where to go. Were they even expecting her?

As she walked down the corridor to the dining room, Rebecca glanced at the walls, looking at all of the framed pictures of the teachers and faculty. It was eerie walking in an abandoned school at night, alone, go figure. She got to the dining hall and looked around. Most of the men who were there were asleep for the most part.

There were rows of cots with men who appeared to be stable. The only sound that pierced the quiet room was the pained whimpers of soldiers.

Rebecca stood at the doors of the dining hall, looking like a lost lamb in the woods. She had no clue where to go or who to speak to about her appearance.

Finally, a middle-aged nurse dressed in OD's came from a curtained-off portion of the room, scribbled something on her clipboard, and injected something into one of the whimpering soldiers. From what Rebecca could see, the woman had slightly graying hazel colored hair and a kind face but worn face.

Once the nurse was done, she finally caught sight of Rebecca who still stood awkwardly.

"Ah, you must be Captain Clark from the Airborne. I'm Major Elaine Hanks." She said approaching her.

Rebecca was happy to be amongst another woman. It had been so long that Rebecca didn't even notice the golden oak leaves on her shoulders. Taken aback, she promptly snapped a salute.

"Child, there's no need for any of that here. Please, call me Elaine." She chuckled.

"Sorry," Rebecca blushed.

"Don't be, dear. We all have varying officers ranks here but we seldom call each other by it. Most of the gals here are nurses by trade and we prefer to treat this like any 'ole hospital. It makes it easier to handle that way."

Rebecca could understand. She knew women were only given relative rank in the army anyways.

"Come on, now. I'll show you around."

Rebecca began walking down the dining hall with Elaine, observing everything. It looked like they had pretty decent supplies. There were even clean sheets on the cots.

"As you can see, this is where we keep our stable men who are ready to be taken off to the hospital back in England. But, we just haven't been able to move them, with the air raids and all."

Elaine took Rebecca out of the dining hall and into what appeared to be an old gymnasium.

"This is our ICU. We're doing our best to make sure the men here are constantly watched. I usually have two or three nurses here at a time in case someone codes."

They walked down the gymnasium floor until they stopped at a bed where a petite nurse was, scribbling down something on a clipboard. She was much younger than Elaine and had beautiful blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. Rebecca almost thought she looked like a movie star.

"Florence, this is the Airborne nurse who staying with us for a few days," Elaine began.

Rebecca smiled at the young woman who, once she looked up from what she was doing, grew the biggest smile Rebecca ever saw.

"Oh, my! You're the captain I've heard so much about. It's an honor to me ya!" Florence said in a southern drawl, furiously shaking Rebecca's hand. "I'm Lieutenant Florence Buford. Please, call me Flo!"

Rebecca nervously laughed. It was strange getting such attention from a stranger who was treating her like a celebrity.

"Gosh, I admire you so much!" Florence went on.

"Uh, thank you. It's nice to meet you," Rebecca said shyly, her facing turning bright red.

Elaine shook her head. "Alright, Florence. Don't overwhelm the poor woman. She's probably exhausted."

Florence's smile faded away and her fair skin blushed from embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Captain."

"It's no problem at all, Florence."

"Florence, why don't you show Rebecca to the dormitory and help her get settled in?" Elaine suggested to the starstruck girl.

"Of course, Elaine."

Rebecca followed Florence up to the stairs to the second floor of the boarding school where there were large dorm halls that had rows of beds and wardrobes in between them.

Florence took her to the first empty bed. Rebecca thought she might cry, it was honest to God a bed with real, clean sheets and a pillow. She had been sleeping on the cold ground for so long, Rebecca almost forgot what a bed felt like. She stroked her fingertips across the wool blanket that covered the rack.

"Well, here's your bed, right next to mine. I think you'll like your time here. We're all kind of like a little family. Most of us trained together back in the States. Elaine actually has been in the army for a long time. She's been patching up GI's since the Great War." Florence began, walking over to one of the wardrobes.

Rebecca was impressed, to say the least. She guessed Elaine must have been in her fifties which was impressive enough to still be in the army. The woman must have seen her fair share of horrors going from one world war to another.

"Now, here's a towel and some other toiletries for you. The shower room is right through that door," Florence continued, pointing to a door farther down the dorm and handing Rebecca the towel. "We just got the water working. One of the soldiers who stopped by from battalion was a plumber back home and offered to fix the pipes for us. I'm sure you're just dying to take a shower!"

Rebecca was amazed that the makeshift hospital had so much. Running water was tough to come by nowadays.

"Wow, you guys have everything here."

"Well, it may seem like it, but we've been really rationing a lot lately. It's been difficult for supplies to come through to us. But, we make do." Florence smiled. "Well, I'll let you alone. I know you're here to rest. Enjoy!" The petite southerner said, leaving the dorm.

Rebecca knew exactly what she wanted to do first. A hot shower was in order. She took the towel and toiletries Florence gave her and went into the bathroom.

The first thing Rebecca noticed when she entered the white tiled room was the long row of short sinks and the long mirror above them to the left of the entrance. This was obviously one of the bathrooms for the children. The whole building was once a school, now, it was a hospital for the men ravaged by the horrors of the war. She wondered where they were now if they were safe and with their parents. It was painful to think about the children that were affected by the mess the war left in its path.

To the right of the door was two toilet stalls and in the back was the large shower with multiple water nozzles that were separated by only a wall.

Rebecca walked over to the shower with the soap Florence gave her and took off her clothes. They, like her body, were filthy. She looked at herself and noticed how much skinnier she had become. Her hips protruded out a bit and her ribs were a little more noticeable. She stroked her hand over her collarbone, noticing how it jutted out much more than when she first entered the Airborne

Entering the shower, Rebecca turned on the first head. The water sputtered on and in a few seconds actually became warm. She stepped under the stream, shivering. The hot water felt amazing over her aching bones and skin.

She lathered up and scrubbed the grime away as hard as she could. Her once beautiful brown, curly hair was matted and dried out. She scrubbed and scratched away at her scalp.

In the shower, alone with her thoughts. All she could think about was what Easy was doing right at that moment if more Toccoa men were mauled, butchered, and killed. An overwhelming feeling of guilt flooded Rebecca. There she was enjoying a hot shower while her men froze and suffered.

She scrubbed her skin harder.

Tears rolled down her face as an immense feeling of pain crept into her heart. In the last few days she found out her father had committed suicide and more Easy men died every day. She felt so alone and helpless.

She scrubbed her skin harder, harder and harder until she felt pain. At least she knew the pain meant to she was alive still. And yet, why was she still alive? What made her life more special than any others of the men who got killed. Besides, what did she have to live for anymore? She would trade her life for the countless deaths she witnessed in a heartbeat.

Rebecca rinsed the suds from her body, turned off the water, and wrapped herself in the towel. She walked over to the rows of sinks and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a ghost of her former self. Where there was once vibrant, hopeful eyes now stood dark circles and wrinkles from lack of sleep and stress. Her beautiful olive skin now looked pale and her cheekbones slightly protruded out more.

Glancing around the counter that hung under the mirror, Rebecca saw a cup with scissors, and nail file, and clippers. She eyed the scissors.

Her thin and shaking hand took them. She looked at herself in the mirror again and at the scissors. Rebecca took a shaky hand, picked up a strand of her hair, and opened the scissors in the other hand.

She took the strand to her dark brown hair and put it in between the blades of the scissors ready to cut.

Just as she was about to slice off a chunk of hair, someone came bursting into the bathroom.

"Stop!" Florence cried out. "What are you doing?"

Rebecca looked at the southern nurse who had a look of horror written all over her face.

"It's too long and gets in the way," Rebecca responded, wiping away a wayward tear.

Florence approached her slowly, reaching out a hand. "Let me help you."

Before Rebecca knew it, her long curly hair was now reduced pieces in the sink. She looked into the bathroom mirror and examined her new cut further.

"While I liked your hair long, this is much better than the crime you were about to commit before," Florence sighed.

"Thank you."

The two women walked out of the bathroom and sat on Rebecca's bed.

"Are you okay, Rebecca?" Flo asked, placing a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.

"I'm fine. I just felt like I needed to change things up a bit." She said, forcing a smile out.

Florence looked into the eyes of the broken woman before her. She understood what Rebecca was really doing. Rebecca was dealing with so much trauma she felt she needed to change her look in order to cope.

"I used to be a hairdresser back home in Georgia," Florence began.

"That explains it," Rebecca answered.

"Funny thing is, I never wanted to be a nurse or to join the military." Florence began, folding out the creases in her uniform pants.

"My boyfriend at the time told me he had to break up with me because he had enlisted. And in my infinite wisdom, I decided I would too, to try and follow him in. I thought it would be perfect, we would be together forever. I told him what I'd done and he said to me, 'Florence Buford, you have got to be the stupidest broad I've ever met.' He broke it off with me anyways and it was already too late to go back to being a hairdresser. I was a love-sick, boy-crazy woman with no real prospects. And, now that I look back, this is was probably the best thing I've done." Florence said, wiping away her tears.

"I grew up in an orphanage and never had any real family or direction in my life."

Rebecca felt a little fortunate that she got to have a family at all even though now she was technically an orphan. Meanwhile, Florence told her that her mother left her on the doorstep of the police station when she was 6-months-old. It sort of put everything in perspective for her.

"The girls here became my family and I would do anything for them," Florence continued on.

Rebecca thought to herself. That's exactly how she felt about Easy Company. She would do anything for them and she had to go back before they advanced.

"That must have been so difficult for you," Rebecca said.

"It was, but somehow I managed to get through it and find some purpose in my life. For a long time, I thought my purpose was to find a husband and become a respectable woman who stayed home with the kids while my husband went to work. Now, I know it's to be my own kind of respectable."

Florence's words hit Rebecca hard. Maybe that's what she needed to do to. She had to figure out for herself the work she did was her purpose and her own kind of respectable.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but, what's it like being out there?" Florence asked.

She didn't know how to answer the question. All the awful things she'd seen came flooding back to her. How could she possibly explain them to Florence?

"I wouldn't wish any of the things I've seen out there on my worst enemy. The more I'm out there, the more of my guys I see get shot and blown up, the more I realize they died in a place they didn't need to be, in a battle over something they didn't understand, in a country that meant nothing them. And every second I'm here, the more I realize I have to get back to them, to my family."

Florence smiled and placed her hand on Rebecca's. "I knew you were going to try and bust out." She laughed.

XXX

Rebecca got up at in the early hours of the morning, packed up her things, and quietly walked past the other sleeping nurses. As she went, Rebecca shook Florence awake who was out like a light. With a few hard shakes, she finally stirred.

"Rebecca, are you leaving?" She asked, groggily.

"Yes, I am, and I just wanted to thank you for everything."

Florence sat up in her bed and pulled Rebecca into a hug. "No, thank you for everything you've done. I hope your boys turn out alright."

Florence went back to sleep when they made their final goodbyes and Rebecca made her way out of the dorm trying her hardest not to wake anyone else up. She made sure not even her footsteps made a sound as she walked down the stairs to the first floor.

It was surprisingly quiet for a field hospital, Rebecca noticed. As she walked she hoped and prayed Elaine and Florence survived the rest of the war.

"Rebecca!"

Suddenly, Elaine came out from seemingly out of nowhere, carrying a box, scaring the bejeezus out of Rebecca. She jumped what felt like ten feet in the air before slapping a hand over her mouth, preventing herself from letting out a shriek.

"Major, I was just going for a walk!" She mentally kicked herself for coming up with such a lame lie. Rebecca was standing there with her duffle bag after all.

Elaine chuckled, putting the box under her arm and placing a hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "Child, you don't have lie. I knew you were going to try and sneak out early. I just figured I would give you some supplies to take back to your men." She said, handing the box over to her.

Rebecca looked in it, admiringly. She was glad for the gesture and that Elaine wasn't going to rat on her for trying to escape.

"There's some bandages, tourniquets, a few syrettes of morphine, a couple of bottles of plasma, and some Kotex for you, dear. I'm sure they aren't supplying you with that kind of stuff out there. I know it's not a lot, but that's all we could spare."

"Thank you, this is amazing."

Elaine quickly brought the girl into a tight embrace. "Now, you take care of yourself. Good luck, and be safe, for God's sakes."

Rebecca nodded and smiled at her.

XXX

Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard for Rebecca to get back to the line. Once she walked out of the hospital, there was a jeep jockey waiting outside of another building.

"I'm making a supply run back to the line. Can you take me?"

The young man perked up in his seat. "Yes, ma'am!"

Rebecca knew Dick and Nix were going to be pissed, but she couldn't possibly stay behind.

XXX

Dick sat on a crate in CP, looking over the recorded losses from the recent shelling. He couldn't believe it. Easy Company was as good as fractured.

"Dick, you're just gonna make yourself go crazy looking at that over and over again," Nix remarked, walking out of the tarped foxhole.

Sighing, he put down the papers, wiped his tired eyes, and sat back against the wall of CP. All Dick wanted right now was to hold Rebecca. The feelings he had for the woman were as strong as ever, more so, now. His old company was dealing with a heavy loss after Toye and Guarnere got hit and Buck being taken off the line. He felt as if he was equal parts to blame for the messed up leadership of Easy. Now, it was screwed up more than ever before. Dick just wanted Rebecca to tell him it was going to be alright, but she was at a field hospital off the line. He hated admitting it, but times were tough and he could at least find some comfort in the feelings he had for Rebecca.

"Christ. You've got to be kidding me." Dick heard Nixon exclaim.

Dick's head out of CP, looking at his friend. "Nix, what's wrong?"

When he looked at what his pal saw, Dick too was filled with surprise. Hopping off a jeep with a box in her hands was Rebecca gently smiling at her two friends.

The two men approached the woman, still in shock. They had barely sent her away twenty-four hours ago and yet, she was back.

"Becca, what the hell are you doing back here?" Nix asked, crossing his arms.

The woman put down the box, showing off her loot. "I brought supplies." She said, offering the box to the two stunned men.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked the chapter. I'm sorry for the late upload this week. Something pretty serious happened to me this week and I was trying to deal with that. Nonetheless, thanks for all the support. It means so much me. Please, let me know how I'm doing! :3


	28. Chapter 28 - Assault

Last Time: Rebecca is taken off the line for a breather.

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." - Margaret Thatcher

Now: Easy Company prepares for the attack on Foy.

* * *

 **Chapter** **28 - Assault**

Despite Rebecca's unexpected and early return, Easy Company's morale was still at an all-time low. By January 5th, only two days after Bill and Toye got hit and Buck was pulled off the line, Captain Winters, the acting battalion commander was grinding his teeth thinking about the junior officers and company Commander of Easy Company.

"We have weak lieutenants and I don't have faith in them." He said looking down at his hands.

Rebecca could see the concern on Dick's face and it scared her. The very idea of him being unsure could only mean Easy was grossly unprepared for their next assault and to Rebecca, it meant losing more of her friends.

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of an easy solution to this very pressing issue. No one could. All she could do was offer Dick her support.

"We'll get through this. We always do." She offered, sitting down on the crate next to his.

"I don't know, Rebecca. I just don't know how long our men can be pushed before they hit their breaking point."

Rebecca breathed out a long sigh. The men's overall mental acuity was a major concern of hers too. She read a report published by Army psychiatrists about combat exhaustion. In the report, it stated psychiatric casualties were just as common and inevitable as a gunshot or shrapnel wounds and most men were ineffective after 180 or even 140 days. Rebecca counted, by January 3, 1945, Easy had spent twenty-three days in Normandy, seventy-three in Holland, and fifteen in Belgium, for a grand total of 116. She deduced, judging from the report, Easy Company was in danger of breaking down at any time.

Thinking about it made her feel like trying to comfort Dick was all in vain. What was the point of trying to sugar-coat the grave state of the situation they were in?

XXX

On January 9th, the company participated in a clearing operation in the woods west of Foy. There was little resistance. Easy successfully reached it's objective and dug in for the night.

"Lighting six kidnap. Ah, yes, sir. We've cleared all the green area west of Foy," Dick spoke into the phone reporting to Col. Sink with Nix next him.

Rebecca on the other hand, sat down, thankful for the tarp covering CP, preventing the blowing snow from falling on her. She listened to her two friends as they reported back to Col. Sink about the recent and successful advancement the company made. They were able to complete their task with next no resistance, but Rebecca's opinion quickly changed compared to that of her comrades rather quickly as she counted up the number of KIA.

"We have KIA," Dick continued on through the phone.

"Thirteen," Nix responded.

 _Thirteen too many._ Rebecca thought to herself, shivering as another gust of wind wiped through the CP. The ones who didn't make it were all replacements, the ones who replaced the likes of the Bill, Joe, and Buck. Rebecca thought back on when the young kids first arrived. She could still hear Johnny Martin's surprise at the very idea of bringing in replacements. He was certain they would get taken off the line, being so low of experienced men.

"I can't believe they're just sending us replacements," Rebecca overheard Martin griping to Lip.

The more concerns she heard echoing around the company, the more she feared for the safety of her men.

"Well, I guess that's it for now," Nix said, pulling Rebecca from her thoughts.

Dick hung up the phone, rubbed his tired eyes, and walked over to Rebecca with Nix.

"How are you holding up, kid?" Nix asked taking a seat next to the frozen woman.

She looked at the man, giving an exhausted look. "I'm freezing my rear off and I've never been more tired in my life. But, other than that, I'm just dandy."

Nix chuckled throwing an arm around Rebecca and patting Rebecca's helmet. "Watch out, that sarcasm might give people the wrong idea."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Nix's nonchalance. How he still managed to keep acting his usual self, baffled her.

"Not that sitting and stewing in our own misery isn't fun, but I've got some more important things I need to tend to." Nix got up and as he was about to leave the CP, he turned around to face Rebecca.

"Watch out for him, okay?" He whispered, leaving the CP.

Rebecca shifted in her seat and looked at Dick who was sitting, his back against the wall of the CP, his head back, and his eyes closed. He looked absolutely frozen and his eyes tired and worn out.

"Dick, are you okay?" She sheepishly asked, nudging the man.

He opened his eyes, and turned to Rebecca, the exhaustion clearly showing. "I'm fine."

Rebecca could tell he was lying simply to spare her. The whole issue of Easy's leadership and on top of it, it's dwindling number of personnel was wearing him down by the minute.

"You know, I said that once too. And looked where it got me."

Dick sat up on his crate and faced Rebecca. "I've reached a point now where I just know I'm gonna get it. Sooner or later, I'm gonna get it. I just hope to hell it isn't too bad."

"What?" fretted Rebecca as she took in what Dick was saying.

"Am I ever going to see home again?" Dick faltered, his eyes shooting towards Rebecca's. "Rebecca, we're about to make a huge assault on Foy and I'm so sure Easy isn't going to make it."

Dick's words shook Rebecca. She had never seen him so unsure and frightened in life. Dick was always the one that had it together and had a plan. He was looking to her for support, and Rebecca had no idea what to say. She knew nothing of strategy or battle planning, only to save the wounded when strategy failed.

"Please, please, please, don't you dare say that!" She pled. Rebecca knew if something were to happen to Dick or if he was killed, would tear her right open. All feelings she had for him aside, Dick was one of Rebecca's closest comrades in the company.

He looked at her again, desperation in his eyes. Rebecca knew the look all too well. Dick inched closer to her making Rebecca's stomach flip. His eyes flitted down to her lips and back to her eyes.

"Dick," Rebecca breathed.

Just before their lips met, A loud cry caused them to jerk apart.

"INCOMING!"

Before Rebecca could think, Dick grabbed her by the waist and pulled the stunned woman under him. Every boom of an artillery burst made each bone in Rebecca's body ache and her ears scream. The walls of the CP crumbled a little more every time a blast fell and the ground shook beneath them.

Rebecca opened her eyes to try and make sense of all that was going on around her. She hoped to God Nix found cover before the blasting began.

Light bursts from the 88's sent flashes that made it seem as if they were in some kind of firework show. As more shells hit the ground, the terror inside Rebecca's soul grew. All she could do was wait until it was over. It was insanity.

She glanced to Dick who was still on top of her, his eyes plastered shut just like hers once were. Rebecca quickly shut hers too, not wanting any wayward dirt to get into her eyes and prayed for it to be over.

After a few moments that felt like an eternity, it ended.

XXX

Before Rebecca could even deal with what happened with Dick, the next morning, Lip informed her that Muck and Penkala had been in a foxhole during the previous night's attack. It was hit head-on. They were dead instantly and there were no bodies.

Rebecca stood over the blown open hole the two men were once sitting in and watched, disturbed as the only thing anyone could salvage was a piece of Penkala's rosary beads. She eyed Malarkey who took the small crucifix, put it in his pocket, and walked away.

Muck and Penkala's death took a heavy toll on Malarkey. They, along with Buck had been his best friends in the company. With two of them dead and one gone, Malarkey was teetering on a very short string.

In a quick decision, Rebecca ran after Malarkey. She knew the answer to the question already, but she had to ask him if he was okay.

"Don," Rebecca called after him. "Malark!"

The once lively Irishman turned around at the call of his name. The kid at Toccoa who would do anything to make his friends laugh was gone. Now, all that dwelled were eyes filled with sadness and helplessness.

"Yes, Captain?" He answered listlessly.

Rebecca stood before Malarkey and placed an arm on his shoulder, steadying him. "Honey, are you okay?"

His head fell and he shook it. Slowly, Malarkey's body wracked with sobs. He looked back at Rebecca with tears in his eyes.

Seeing Malark so distraught rendered Rebecca's heart to pieces. All she could do was pull him into her chest and let him sob. They were far enough away that she was certain no one could see him. The last thing, she was sure, he wanted was an audience.

Later, back in CP, Rebecca pled with God, begging him to let the war to just end.

The woolen blanket Rebecca used to stay warm, might as well not even been on. She shivered, thinking more and more about Dick, Muck, Penkala, Malarkey, Nix, Bill, Toye, Buck. The list in her head went on and on. She just couldn't see them suffer anymore.

As her mind continued toiling, Rebecca overheard Lip and Dick talking outside. She was crouched down in the corner, her blanket tightly wrapped around her as Dick and Lip moved into the CP.

Rebecca saw Lip's weary face. He was an example of a man who was pulling more than twice the amount of weight as a first sergeant should. If something were to happen to Lip, Easy Company would surely be lost.

Dick crouched down before the small stove that was heating up some coffee. He put his hands to the small flame, trying to warm up his frozen fingers.

Lipton looked like he said something on his mind and stood before Dick, waiting to get something off his chest.

"So?" Dick began, breathing his warm breath on his hands and putting them back next to the coffee tin.

"We've been watching Foy all day, sir. Not much activity." Lip began.

Dick picked up his coffee tin, offering it to the First Sergeant, and walked over to Rebecca. "Want a coffee?"

"No, thank you, sir."

Just by the way he spoke and sounded, Rebecca could tell something was wrong.

"How's Easy's status?" Dick asked, sitting next to Rebecca.

"The men are good, sir. They're prepared. I'm going to be leading 2nd Platoon tomorrow. They're probably the weakest after losing Toye, Guarnere, Muck, and Penkala. But, all in all, I have every confidence in the men, sir."

Rebecca perked up from her spot. If they were going to be talking about the status of the company, she felt like she should listen. She knew that no one was going to speak up about any sort of ailment that could risk them getting taken off the line. Not the night before a huge assault. Rebecca had to make sure the men were okay.

"Good," Dick said, sipping from his tin.

Lip sighed. "But, on the other hand, I have no confidence in our CO, sir."

Rebecca couldn't believe the words coming from Lip's mouth. She watched as he listened to Lip describe Dike in very damning detail.

"Lieutenant Dike is an empty uniform, Captain. He's just," Lip paused shaking his head, unable to pinpoint just exactly what Dike was. "He's not there, sir."

"Well, he's gonna be there tomorrow," Dick informed Lip. There was an obvious tone of annoyance in his voice. Dick was fed up.

"Yes, sir, I understand he will be there physically. But, tomorrow is gonna be the real deal and he's going to have to lead those men. He's going to have to make decisions, sir and I," Lip paused again, "I got to tell you, sir, I think he's gonna get a lot of Easy Company men killed."

Rebecca was dumbfounded by Lip's feelings. For an NCO to express such things to the battalion commander was really telling of what kind of situation they were in. She could see how those words impacted Dick. He paused, letting it sink in. What on earth was he to do with this information?

"Thank you, Sergeant, that'll be all."

Lip's eyes dropped to the ground. He didn't want to drop a bomb on Captain Winters but he said what needed to be said. "Yes, sir."

As Lipton left, Rebecca sat up and went to put some coffee on for herself. Things had gotten a bit awkward, to say the least since last night's shelling.

"So, what do you make of that?" Rebecca asked trying to clear the air.

"I don't know what to make of it except that I agree with him. Tomorrow is going to be brutal and I don't know if I can count on Dike to get the job done."

"What choice do we have?"

XXX

The next morning marked the inevitable attack on Foy. The 101st now occupied the woods that encircled Foy from the east, west, and south. General Taylor had wanted to carry the attack straight into Noville but for that, he needed tank support. Even if Taylor got them, there was no way the tanks could operate without being on a road. So, this meant Foy would have to suffice for now.

Rebecca woke up the morning of the assault with butterflies in her stomach. Since 2d Battalion was selected to take Foy, Winter chose Easy to lead the assault. From what he described to Rebecca, it was a simple and brutal operation. Easy was to charge down an open field into the village. There was an enormous possibility every window in the town had machine gun posts and every German had brick-and-mortar protection. There was no subtlety to the attack, just charge across the field and hope to God not to get shot. It unnerved Rebecca that Dike was leading Easy through such a risky operation. If he screwed up, many lives would be lost.

At 0900, Easy formed up at the end of the woods and planned to attack. Rebecca was ordered by Col. Sink to stay with Winters as the assault commenced. She looked at the open field and the giant haystacks laying on top of it. All Rebecca could see was endless possibilities for her men to get gunned down or blown to bits. There was no cover except for their machine guns that would provide covering fire as Easy Company sprinted across the field. If they were to stop and seek cover behind the giant hay bales, it was game over.

Rebecca watched on as Dick sat down on the snow-covered ground, explaining the plan with Dike as clearly as possible. As she watched Dick urgently go over the logistics as if he was explaining the assault to a trooper with fresh wings, Colonel Sink came from behind Rebecca.

"Captain Clark." Sink began. "May I speak with you a moment?"

Rebecca turned around to face Sink. "Yes, sir?"

"I wanted to offer my condolences to you on account of your father."

Rebecca's eyes flicked to the ground, a bit of sadness creeping its way into her voice. "Thank you, sir."

"I know despite your immense personal loss at home and the struggles you've faced out here trying to take this godforsaken town, you've done a hell of a job keeping your men safe."

"Thank you, Colonel. I don't think I would've made it if it weren't for the men. They really helped me pull through it."

The stern Colonel nodded. "I've spoken with some people over at 326th medical. It seems they've have taken a liking to you and all your hard work."

Rebecca was surprised, to say the least. She didn't even know she had done anything worth grabbing the attention of the brass in the medical division.

"Lt. Colonel Gold has taken it upon himself to offer you a job as his executive officer and a promotion to major."

Sink's words hit Rebecca like a freight train at full speed. "Leaving Easy Company, sir?"

"That's right. But this job would pretty much ensure your protection throughout the rest of war."

"Sir, I, I," Rebecca babbled, unable to formulate an answer.

Sink placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "I know this is a lot to throw at you all at once. Why don't you think about it?" offered Sink.

Rebecca shook her head. She knew what she wanted and it wasn't some pencil pushing job far behind the line and away from Easy. Leaving them after everything they had been through seemed devastating to her.

"Sir, I've already made my decision. I can't leave Easy after all we've been through, especially now. I appreciate the offer, but the men are vulnerable after losing so many Toccoa men. I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Col. Sink sighed, taking in what Rebecca told him. "You do realize what you're passing up on? This pretty much ensures a fast track for a career in the army."

"I didn't join the Airborne for a career. Sir, I think my place is here, with Easy."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised with your answer. I don't blame you either." Sink chuckled, shaking his head. "You're an Easy trooper, through and through. Nevertheless, I'm very proud to have you here with us."

Rebecca smiled, shaking Sink's hand. "Thank you, sir."

After the Colonel let go of Rebecca's hand, he glanced down at his watch. "Alright, time to start this thing." He walked away, ordering for the attack to commence.

Rebecca trailed behind Sink, still unable to fully process what had just happened. Collecting herself, she joined Dick and Col. Sink who was crouching down with some other officers and Nix. Dick looked nervous, to say the least. As she turned to face the town, the machine guns opened fire and Easy began their mad dash across the field.

All seemed to be going accordingly. As expected, the Germans opened fire as well, sending bullets into some of the guys that sprinted down the field. The nerves in Rebecca's stomach tossed and turned at every step the men took and every bullet sent through one of them.

As the barrage continued, Kraut artillery began to rain down. Rebecca's eyes dashed to Dike as he moved forward. It seemed like he was yelling something but she wasn't sure. She glanced to Dick who's eyebrows were tightly knitted together.

Then, all of a sudden, Dike gave the signal to hold up. More men got mowed down by machine gun fire and artillery. Rebecca felt herself fall back on her heels as she witnessed more men get shot down.

"Will you move!" Cried out, Dick.

Rebecca looked up at Dick who was now standing and watching as Easy held their position on the field.

"Get out of there, move!" Dick continued to yell out to Dike.

They shouldn't have stopped. It wasn't part of the plan. The longer they stayed still, the more men got gunned down and blown up.

From what Rebecca could see Dike was scrambling to figure out a plan. He and some others fled behind one of the giant hay bales trying to seek cover.

"Go forward!" Dick screamed out.

Still, they sat, machine gun bullets kicking up dirt and mortar rounds blowing holes into the ground.

Dick picked up the radio ordering through the phone, frantically, "You'd better get Dike on that radio to me, now!"

Two men moved from behind the haystack Dike was behind. One man made it across, the other was drilled down by a machine gun positioned in one of the houses.

"Get going forward!"

Rebecca was now frantic as she heard screams for a medic. She quickly stood up, realizing Roe must have been totally overwhelmed out there, alone. A snap decision to take off and help flitted through Rebecca's mind. Before she even really thought about it, she started taking off.

"Rebecca, where are you going?" Nix yelled out to her.

"They need me!" pled Rebecca, making her move.

"No!" Col. Sink bellowed after the frenzied woman.

She stopped, an inner battle going on inside of her head. Then, she saw a sniper take a headshot and kill another Easy man.

"Jesus Christ," Rebecca heard Dick whisper to himself.

That was it, she had to go. Rebecca began sprinting.

"Becca, no!" Dick screamed after her.

It was too late she made up her mind. Rebecca hot-footed it down the field not even taking into consideration the fact that she was completely exposed. She didn't care. The barrage raged on as Rebecca continued scurrying towards the town.

As she tore down the open field, bullets sprayed the area before her, aiming for any men who dared creep out from behind the hay piles. Rebecca's aim wasn't for the hay bales, she knew if she hid behind there, she would end up trapped just like Dike was. No, she was heading into town where she spotted some guys trying to clear the houses. Artillery continued to rain down, blowing craters into the field and kicking up huge clumps of dirt and snow, but Rebecca didn't stop. Her mind was only focused on her objective.

After sprinting past the hay piles Dike and many of the men were hiding behind, she reached one of the homes some fellow Easy men. As the building drew closer in sight, she saw Perconte get dinged as he hid behind what looked like a horse trough. Finally there, she spotted Liebgott and Martin who were using the building as a means protect themselves from the machine gun and sniper fire. She threw herself to its protective side, panting after her long sprint.

"Captain, what the hell are you doing here?" Martin yelled out over the machine gun fire.

"I'm here to help!" She replied, crouching down and making her way to where Perconte was shot.

The small man was lying back down, writhing in pain. "Ah, Captain, they shot me in my ass!"

Rebecca rolled Perconte on his side and examined the wound. It wasn't too bad but he would be going to a hospital to get stitched up. She whipped out some sulfa and a bandage, applying some pressure. It wasn't long before Bull and another man came to drag him to some cover.

"Captain, come on! We'll give you some cover." Bull said.

Rebecca ran with Bull and a few others from 2nd and stayed behind the next closest building. They were at a standstill again

"What are we gonna do now?" Rebecca asked.

"Lieutenant Speirs relieved Dike."

Rebecca felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders.

And sure enough, up came running Speirs with Lip and Luz on his ass. Bull moved from their position, following Martin and the others from his platoon leaving Rebecca with Lip, Speirs, and Luz. She couldn't have been more ecstatic to see the man in her life.

"Captain?" Lip sputtered, confused.

"First Sergeant." She replied, nonplussed.

Machine gun fire wailed on the side of the house again signaling that they needed to advance. A wayward piece came flying off the building, getting Lip right on the side of the face. He cried out and put his hand on the wound, but continued on as anyway.

"Captain Clark, Sink, and Winters are spitting mad you did that. They're on the radio losing their minds right now" Speirs remarked, pushing her behind him.

"I'll deal with their rath later. Lip, are you okay?"

He only nodded, continuing to peak around the corner of the house.

Speirs slightly smiled at the woman's calmness in the heat of the fire. "Alright, Lipton, what do you see?"

"Armor and infantry. A lot of infantry."

"I Company is supposed to be on the other side of the town. Do you see any sign of them?" Asked Speirs

"No, no sir. I think they're gonna pull back. If we don't connect with I, they're gonna slip away!"

"That's right. Wait here!" ordered Speirs patting Lip on the knee and Rebecca on her shoulder. "Captain Clark, you had better stay here." He said standing up.

Rebecca looked at the Captain, dumbfounded. She had no idea what he was planning, but she would have never guessed he was going to start running towards the position of I Company.

"What the hell?" Luz shouted.

All three shared the same astounded look before they peaked over to see what exactly Speirs was doing. He was running straight through the Krauts line. It seemed the Germans were just as surprised they were because none of them were shooting at him.

Once Speirs hurled himself over the stone wall where I Company was, he did the most astonishing action Rebecca had ever seen during the whole war. Speirs came back.

"That son-of-a-bitch," Luz exclaimed.

"I don't believe it." Rebecca murmured.

The company surged into Foy and let the Krauts have it with everything they had. Once they had artillery support, Easy laid on a tremendous uproar of mortars and grenades to clear the houses. Tanks pulled out and infantrymen surrendered.

Rebecca couldn't believe it, hell, Easy couldn't believe it. They had taken Foy.

XXX

It had to of been the most triumphant comebacks in recent history. Even with the most inept CO in the whole Army, Easy Company and 2d Battalion managed to capture Foy.

By 1100 Nix reported that Foy was secure and Easy captured twenty prisoners.

Rebecca stood among the singing men, watching them as they celebrated. She couldn't have been more thrilled about their victory but was absolutely dreading having to face Nix and Dick.

Once it was deemed safe, Battalion marched up in only what could be described as a relieved and thrilled saunter down the field.

Rebecca spotted her two friends walking. As soon as they caught sight of her, Rebecca noticed they didn't look as irate like she assumed they would, in fact, they appeared to be grateful that she was alive.

"I cannot believe how insane you are!" Nix exclaimed, approaching the young woman.

Nix wasn't one to show any sort of emotion towards the woman so when he pulled her into a tight hug, Rebecca tensed up at first at the gesture but then hugged the concerned man back.

"Between Dike checking out mid-assault and you running out there in the open, I thought Dick was going to keel over and die," Nix admitted, pulling away from the hug.

She glanced at Dick who was gazing at the woman like she was an enigma.

"I-I just can't fathom what was going through your mind when you ran out to help Easy as you did." Dick began.

"Well, just like their commander, I guess, maybe, I care about them too much," smiled Rebecca.

Dick shook his head at Rebecca and brought her into a hug. "Maybe a little too much."

XXX

Word came down from the Brass that instead of getting taken off the line as they deserved, Easy would be taking Noville. It pissed everyone off, Dick especially, but that was life as they knew it.

The attack was part of a general offensive designed to cut through to the north, link up with the U.S. First Army, and trap German tanks on their escape route.

At first, when Dick vented to Rebecca, he thought this assault was just another ego trip for General Taylor. But the more he explained the logistics of it, Rebecca realized something.

"I don't know, Dick. Maybe, despite how battered Easy is right now, Ike really needs us to pull through as soon as possible. Nix did tell me he had no reserves left to send out and the attack could only happen now."

Dick huffed at the woman's response. She was probably right but that didn't mean he liked the plan anymore.

He devised a plan to send his men straight to a deep shoulder southwest out of Noville and near Recogne. This would allow Easy, Dog, Fox Company, and the rest of 2d to get more and more cover as they approached Noville. Dick had the battalion arranged in a single file line to cut through the snow. Given that the snow was up to their knees, is was the quickest approach, but also very dangerous. In that formation, German artillery could very well wipe out the whole battalion.

As Easy and the rest of 2nd Battalion moved, 1st Battalion moved to the left. Unfortunately, for 1st the Germans spotted them and launched 88s that sent men flying through the air.

Rebecca looked at the bodies being blown up and cringed. She glanced at Dick who was still walking but turned to see the carnage 1st Battalion was enduring.

"C' mon, we have to keep moving," was Dick's only response.

Easy and the rest of 2d Battalion continued moving forward, but was soon met with machine gun fire that rained down on the exposed Company.

Thankfully, Speirs responded by setting up machine guns, allowing them to dash across a small stream. Everyone managed to make it unscathed and the next morning, 2d Battalion launched the final assault on Noville.

By noon, 2d Battalion secured Noville and set up a perimeter defense. The little village was finally in the hands of Americans.

XXX

After taking Noville, Easy convinced themselves it was their final objective. The broken-down company was in dire need of rest and a good shower. But that wasn't to be. General Taylor wanted 2d Battalion to move farther north in the direction of Houffalize, to clear the town of Rachamps.

For some reason, despite having a superior advantage, the Nazi's occupying Rachamps didn't put up much of a fight. Instead, after trading some firefight with 2d, they retreated.

Triumphantly, Speirs, who was now the CO of Easy Company, set up CP in a convent. It was the first time the company slept indoors since Mourmelon. That night, the nuns lit the convent with candles, dimly lighting the church, and brought in their choir to sing to them as Easy Company relaxed and slept without fear of being blasted out of the snow.

Rebecca sat down in a pew farther away from the enlisted guys with her head resting on Nix's shoulder and Dick next to her. Alone with her thoughts, she thanked God for seeing her and Easy through the toughest moments of their lives.

For the first time in a while, she felt serene. At peace, she fell asleep to the serenading voices of the choir.

The next morning, Easy Company was bound for Haguenau.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** So, we are officially done with the Battle of the Bulge! It's been a long and wild ride. Thank you all so much for the support and I love you all! I just wanted to let you guys know, I have caught up with my revised chapters so I might be a little slow to put new ones out, but I will be trying as hard as I can! Thanks for sticking with me! :3


	29. Chapter 29 - Haguenau

Last Time: Easy Company finally takes Foy and leaves Bastogne.

"The moment you feel you have to prove your worth to someone is the moment to absolutely and utterly walk away." - Alysia Harris

Now: Easy bounces around from town to town before finally moving out to their next mission.

* * *

 **Chapter 29 - Haguenau**

After being taken off the line at Bastogne, a convoy picked up the 506th PIR and, at what could only be described as a snail's pace, trucked Easy and the rest of the 506th from Bastogne to Bellefontaine, Virton, Etain, Toul, Nancy, and Drulingen.

The pace of the trucks was so slow, in fact, men could jump off, relieve themselves, catch up to the truck again, and reboard with no problem.

By January 20, the 506th went into regimental reserve, hopping between villages for two weeks. For a moment, it almost seemed like the worst was behind them. The weather finally began to warm as the sun came out, melting the snow. The ground once frozen solid by the freezing temperatures and snow now turned mushy from the warmth. A supply truck even came carrying winter shoepacs complete with arctic socks.

Rebecca rolled her eyes as the supply men came through passing around the packs. Many of the men wondered, as she did, where these warm supplies were six weeks ago when they were freezing their asses off in the Ardennes.

Nevertheless, dirty clothes, blankets, and sleeping bags were picked up by the Quartermaster Company and sent to G.I. laundry. Clean clothes and new supplies weren't exclusive in the men's relief. When word broke portable showers capable of holding 215 men were now ready to be used, Easy Company practically mobbed the scene, dying to get six weeks worth of filth and grime off their skin.

Rebecca, knowing all the companies would be moving through the showers together, though she would never get a chance to clean herself by the time every man was finished. Thankfully, before the guys managed to storm the showering area, Dick informed Rebecca she would have the first crack at the shower being the only woman in the entire regiment. Hearing the good news damn near made the woman cry.

Officers were quartered in one of the bigger buildings in Drulingen where most were bunked two or three to a room. Rebecca, however, was given the privilege of having her own private quarters. Even though she found it silly since she shared many foxholes with the whole company while in Bastogne, she couldn't help herself from inwardly celebrating at the thought of a bed with clean sheets.

When she was informed the showers were ready for her, Rebecca almost tripped and fell as she rushed down the stairs of the home she was quartered in trying to get to them. She didn't care. All she wanted was to get clean. The designated area was tented up and blocked off by two guards, preventing any stragglers from trying to get in while Rebecca showered up. She just hoped the guards themselves didn't get any ideas as they stood watching the entrance.

All worries of peeping Toms slipped from her mind as she stepped under the head of the shower. Rebecca scrubbed her filthy skin with the small pad of soap she was given and tried as best as she could to cleanse her now short hair of the dirt, sweat, and stench, occupying her brown curls. It felt heavenly, and then some. Once Rebecca was finished, she slipped on her fresh clothes and slept on the first clean and comfortable bed she had laid on in weeks. To her, it was like resting upon a cloud sent straight from the heavens.

XXX

Just as quickly as her head met the pillow, it seemed like someone was already shaking Rebecca awake for something. She cracked open a sleepy eye, hoping whoever disturbed her was just a figment of her imagination. All Rebecca wanted to do was go back to enjoying the best sleep she had gotten since first joining the Army.

When her eyes finally focused after being pulled out of their peaceful slumber, sadly, it was Dick who was the perpetrator to her rest.

"What?" She mumbled to him, not wanting to leave the warm bed.

"Sorry, to wake you, but we're moving out again." Half-whispered Dick.

More sleep would have to wait until they were settled into the next village. Rebecca groaned while she dragged herself out of the warm cocoon of blankets and began gathering her belongings together.

"Where are we moving to?" asked Rebecca as she threw her clothes into her duffle bag.

"A town called Haguenau," Dick began. "It's the biggest one we've been in since we dropped into Normandy, too. We'll be on the south bank of the Moder River and the Germans on the north bank."

Rebecca stopped to make sure she was hearing Dick's words correctly. "We're going to be _that_ close?"

"Yeah, that close." He confirmed.

Rebecca didn't like the sound of being so close to the enemy and was worried. But, she figured it couldn't be any worse than Bastogne was. Instead of making herself fret, she just continued on what she was doing and boarded the convoy with the rest of Easy.

XXX

On February 5, Easy Company arrived in Haguenau and moved into the line to relieve the 313th Infantry of the 79th Division. The town was huge in comparison to others Easy had been in before and the many large buildings made perfect outposts for each platoon and the CP. When Easy first arrived it was clear Haguenau was no stranger to the destruction of. Every building was accompanied by broken windows, pieces of the structure blown off, and caved in roofs. The insides looked as if they were being destroyed for some kind of renovation by the way the walls had chunks blown out and the floors with holes. This, however, didn't matter to Easy. They were inside with a roof over their heads, for the most part.

Rebecca was given her own room in the house the officers of 2d Battalion occupied. Inside was a small rack provided by the Quartermasters in the 79th Division. It made no difference what kind of bed it was to her. All she cared about was sleeping on something other than a frozen foxhole.

While in the middle of unpacking her belongings, the recently promoted Captain Speirs appeared at her door.

"Becca?" said Speirs, announcing himself.

"Yes, Captain?" replied Rebecca. She still made it a point to be on a very professional basis with Speirs. Even though he had a good head on his shoulders, there was something about him that gave Rebecca the impression he was still the old Lieutenant back in Normandy who scared the living hell out of poor Private Blithe. Rebecca didn't care if he called her by her nickname, but she would _not_ call him Ron or Sparky as he was supposedly nicknamed.

"Lipton still has a nasty cough and has spiked a fever. Could you look at him for me?"

"Damnit." Rebecca cursed. She had a feeling Lip was making light of the cough he had been harboring for the past few weeks. The would probably wait until he coughed up a lung before telling Rebecca he was sick. "Of course, let's go."

Grabbing her bag, she followed Speirs to the OP.

The large Victorian-style home now ravaged by war must have been a sight to see in its prime. The once beautiful blue and gold floral wallpaper were now dirtied by gunpowder, falling debris from the ceiling above, and torn from the stone it was laid upon. All the furniture was pushed to one side of the wall, a red plush couch and a large round coffee table were the only pieces remaining in the room. The room adjacent, a dining room perhaps, was filled with remains that came apart from the building after every shelling.

Rebecca spotted Lipton who was standing near Vest and Luz who were getting the newly formed CP in order. Just from his appearance alone, Lip looked like the walking dead. His handsome face was now occupied with a ghastly pale white. His cheeks and nose were cherry-red and his eyes puffy and swollen. Rebecca, not caring about being discreet with her doting, walked over to the group, interrupting whatever conversation they were having.

"Hiya, Lip. Speirs told me you weren't feeling too good and you still have that cough."

Lipton sighed, his eyes darting towards the man who ratted him out to the company nurse. "Cap'n, it's really not that bad." He argued.

His attempt to get the concerned nurse off his back was all in vain the moment he let out a long, wet, and rattling cough sounding as if there was an angry animal in a cage trying to get out. Even someone who knew nothing of medicine could deduce from the sound of Lip's cough, he was sick.

She placed a hand on the First Sergeant's back, leading him to sit on the couch. "We'll see, I just wanna give you a quick check."

As Lip sat on the couch Rebecca pulled out a stethoscope she managed to swipe from the battalion hospital and began listening to his breath sounds.

"Okay, deep breaths for me, Carwood," asked Rebecca.

The instant the stethoscope met Lip's back and he began breathing, Rebecca heard an intense amount of crackling, wheezing, and rhonchi. She knew immediately Lip had pneumonia. Despite what she knew, Rebecca continued her routine. Rolling up her sleeve, she put her exposed wrist on Lip's forehead. As anyone could've guessed, he was burning up.

"Have you been coughing anything up?"

"Uh, yeah. Boogery mucus stuff."

"And the color?"

"Dark yellow."

Rebecca groaned to herself, knowing even when she told Lip he was good and sick, he wasn't going to do a damn thing about it. "Lip, you got pneumonia."

"So, what should I do?" asked Lip, laying down on the small couch.

Rebecca could see it in his eyes. The First Sergeant accepted he was sick but was still going to perform his duties like always.

"Well, for one, stop smoking immediately. The only thing you should be breathing in is oxygen. I'll try and get some penicillin, but for now, lots of hot liquids and rest."

Lip nodded. Rebecca knew though, he wouldn't listen to a word she said. He was the company's First Sergeant and was soon to receive a battlefield commission. Lip was not going to rest while his men continued on.

"Carwood?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Since when do you smoke?"

Lip's eyes darted down, avoiding Rebecca's scrutinous gaze. "Ugh, I started after the shelling that killed Muck and Penkala."

A pang of guilt lanced through Rebecca's heart. She still disliked the fact that he was smoking but she could only attribute it to stress. "Okay, well, enough for now."

Lip nodded, taking her words seriously. The last thing he wanted was Rebecca to start mollycoddling him every second of the day, so, it was best to heed her words.

Rebecca walked over to Speirs who was putting on some coffee for himself. If she couldn't be doting on Lip 24/7, which she would like to do, Speirs definitely would. "Speirs, make sure he rests, okay? It could turn serious if he keeps pushing himself."

"Of course, Becca."

Satisfied, she began walking out of the CP and passed who could only be Pvt. David Webster. He had been gone for so long, Rebecca didn't even recognize the kid at first.

Webster stopped and saluted the woman as he met her gaze. "Captain Clark, it's good to see you."

She was a little taken aback by his jauntiness. Webster looked like a greenhorn; he might as well be, he was gone for so long. Everything about him seemed green, his uniform and his hair was fresh, clean and done up, and she swore his boots looked brand new.

Brushing off his greeting, Rebecca carried on. "Nice to see you too, Private." She replied, shaking her head as she walked out the doors. Inwardly, she felt a little bad for Webster. Rebecca knew all the guys in the company were going to give him all kinds of shit for not being there in Bastogne. To some degree, she felt the same indignation they all probably felt. Where the hell was he when they were being torn to shreds in the Ardennes?

Even so, Rebecca walked on through the muddy road. She had to find Dick and let him know Lipton had pneumonia.

XXX

Standing behind a barrier made of sandbags in between two buildings stood Dick and Nix. They both looked at the German's side of town ahead of them, blocked off with barbed wire. Tall Victorian buildings stood among the eerie fog, partitioned by the frigid river. It was the only thing that separated them from the Germans. It painted a bleak picture of what was to come tonight.

"He wants us to cross the river," began Dick.

"Yeah, I bet that water's cold. Should be able to get you some boats."

Dick looked up towards the foggy sky, examining the conditions that would only worsen when the night came. "It had to be a full moon. So much for the cover of darkness. It's gonna leave the patrol exposed."

"Lip has pneumonia," Rebecca announced, walking up to the edge of the sandbag wall.

Both officers eyed at Rebecca as she walked up to them. Neither of them too particularly surprised by the Company's misfortunes anymore. "Sink wants a prisoner snatch tonight across the river," responded Nix.

"Yours wins." Rebecca surrendered, not liking the idea of Easy risking their hides for some lousy prisoners this late in the war. The worst should've been behind them.

"Do you know where Speir's is? We're gonna let him take care of this."

"He's back at CP where Lip is resting."

XXX

"Listen up." Announced Dick, taking off his helmet and scratching his head. Rebecca and Nix were right behind him preparing to give the bad news to the rest of the company. "Regiment wants a patrol for prisoners."

Rebecca spotted in the corner of the room, a very young looking Lieutenant with almost a cherub-like innocence who was trying his best to be taken seriously.

"This one comes straight from Col. Sink, so, it's not my idea," piped up Nix.

The men in the room, shared concerned looks with one another, none taking too kindly to the idea of a patrol.

"Since the river's the main line of resistance, we're going to have to cross it to get to them."

"What do we need to do?" Speirs asked his cigarette in between his fingers.

"There's a three-story building on the enemy side, up the embankment. We know it's occupied. You can have fifteen men." Continued Dick, "Think very hard about who you wanna lead the patrol. You'll need a lead scout, a translator, and I've got the entire battalion on covering fire."

"When?"

"Tonight, 0100."

"Yes, sir." Replied Speirs, looking towards the ground. Without even hearing any verbal objections, Rebecca could tell none of the guys were on-board for this one.

"Speirs, I want this one to be as fool-proof and as safe as possible."

"Yeah, don't take any chances on this one. We're too far along for that," Nix added.

"Speirs, want to discuss who might go along?" Asked Dick, walking over to Captain Speirs.

Rebecca and Nix stood next to each other until Nix caught sight of the young Lieutenant still standing at attention like an obedient puppy. She didn't really want to introduce herself to the kid. Starting from scratch from what was probably some cocky new officer with fresh wings, didn't particularly jive well with Rebecca.

In an attempt to try and melt the chip on her shoulder, Rebecca ended up following Nix anyways.

"Who are you?" Nix asked out, flatly.

"Lieutenant Jones, sir." He said, proudly, still standing tall.

"Right, our West Pointer," Nix remembered.

General Taylor, who had recently adjusted the division front, filled the empty officer ranks with three recently graduated West Pointers. Rebecca, unfortunately, had an early and terrible first meeting with one of them. 2d Lieutenant Larry Fitzpatrick snuck along on a patrol without anyone's knowledge and ended up stepping on a mine. He was killed instantly, but Rebecca still had to evacuate what was left of Fitzpatrick and attempt to treat. It was a grisly sight, to say the least. It was just another example of fresh blood too gung-ho and eager to prove themselves.

"Yes, sir," Jones replied, still standing straight and tall in front of his superiors.

"When'd you graduate?" Nix asked.

"June 6th, sir."

Rebecca's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. Not only did Lieutenant Jones graduate on the most important advancement of the war, but it could also only mean he was fresh out of jumping school! _What the hell are they trying to do to us?_ Rebecca thought to herself, questioning Taylor's replacement decisions.

Nixon appeared to be just as shocked as Rebecca was. "June 6th, of last year?"

"D-Day, yes, sir," Jones replied, giving a knowing look.

Letting out a contrived chuckle, Nix replied, "Alright, don't get hurt."

Jones's, eyes met the floor and his face turned red.

"Nix!" Rebecca chastised, elbowing him.

Before Nixon could tease Jones anymore, Dick appeared from behind him and began leading him out of the door.

Probably feeling a bit neutered after Lew's judgments and wanting to prove himself, Lieutenant Jones stepped over to Dick. "Sir, I'd like to volunteer for the patrol."

Dick didn't reply to him and only turned to Speirs. "Speirs, talk to you in an hour?"

"Lieutenant Jones," Was the only thing Dick said before departing.

As she continued walking away, Rebecca could see Jones was upset. She felt some sympathy for the kid. After all, it wasn't too long ago, Rebecca was trying to prove she belonged with Easy Company too.

"Lieutenant, don't worry, you'll get your chance." She offered.

Jones offered Rebecca a hearty salute, which she happily returned before she left CP again.

\- End Chapter -

* * *

 **A/N:** I really wanted to post a chapter today, because, for me, it's the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I hope by taking the time to write this fanfic, I'm in some way, even in the smallest way possible, honoring the men who made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent tyranny from dominating the world. I will forever be grateful for every veteran's sacrifice. Stay tuned for more chapters in the future.


	30. Chapter 30 - Hurt

Last Time: Easy Company arrives in the town of Haguenau and a patrol is planned.

"It's a lot easier to be angry at someone than it is to tell them you're hurt." - Tom Gates

Now: Rebecca and Dick come to a crossroads.

* * *

 **Chapter 30 - Hurt**

The inside of the old post office now posing as battalion CP was bustling as usual with intelligence officers, mapmakers, translators, and other rear-echelon folks going about their day-to-day tasks. Dick looked among them, so thankful not to have their jobs. He couldn't even bare the minor pencil-pushing that went along with battalion XO, so imagining himself in a job where that was all he did, made his mind numb. Of course, he meant no disrespect to the fellows who did those sort of things, he just preferred himself out with his men, heading an attack and leading them into battle. A good leader never leads from the back.

As executive officer of 2d Battalion, it meant Easy wasn't his responsibility anymore, but he still cared deeply for them. That's why he was personally telling Col. Sink who was leading and going on the patrol tonight. Dick wouldn't admit it, but he was also going to ask what Rebecca was going to be doing while 2d Platoon was on the patrol. 2d was her platoon, in a way. While her job was to tend to all the men's needs during a battle, she trained with 2d. Even when she began inching back more towards battalion with Nix and himself, she was still greatly attached to them. Once she found out it was 2d Platoon who would be going on the prisoner snatch, she insisted on being positioned on the other side of the embankment where the MG's were going to be placed. Dick finally conceded told Rebecca he would Sink himself.

"If anything happens, I want to be right there to deal with it!"

Dick could still hear her resolute words in his head. He told her he would ask Col. Sink about it when he went to tell him who was chosen.

Upstairs which must have been where a family used to live now served as offices for battalion officers, including Dick's. Next to his was Col. Sink's, the largest of course.

Dick approached the door, knocked, and entered when he heard Sink's "enter".

"Captain Winters, I wasn't expecting you, was I?" Asked Sink, looking up from a map that was on his table.

"No, sir, I just wanted to inform you Captain Speirs and I chose Webster, Grant, Heffron, Jackson, McClung, Ramirez, Vest, Powers, Wynn, Cobb, Sisk, Alley, and Garcia for the patrol. Sgt. Martin will be leading and Lt. Jones, observing."

"Is that all, Dick?"

"No, sir. I came to ask where you would like Captain Clark during the patrol tonight. She feels it would be best if she were posted on the other side of the embankment where the machine guns will be providing covering fire."

Dick felt that was the safest place for her too. There was no way she was going to be on the boats with the other guys, so if Dick was going to appease the woman, behind the protection of covering fire was the best place.

"I want Rebecca the hell away from that patrol tonight. She isn't to be involved in the slightest. I still have Col. Gold back at the 326th Medical breathing down my neck about the position they offered her. The last thing I want is for her to get knocked out of this thing before she's had to time to really consider his offer."

Dick suddenly became confused. "Sir?"

XXX

Rebecca had just returned from the battalion hospital where she was able to scrounge up some penicillin for First Sergeant Lipton. Just as she predicted when she returned back to Easy's CP, he wasn't resting at all but was doing his own version which consisted of sitting on the small dingy couch in the middle of the room, sitting up, and completing his tasks as usual. After giving Lipton the medicine, she promptly sicced Captain Speirs on the man who yelled at him to go lie down.

In her room, with her thoughts, Rebecca waited for Dick to come back from battalion CP who was going to inform her where she would be when the patrol took place. Rebecca knew she had grown more distant from her platoon since they left for Bastogne and thought she owed it to them to step up and help. She felt as if she was more a part of Battalion than the actual company, which she hated. After all, Easy had been through, Rebecca's urge to stay close to her company grew. As each day passed, fatigue and exhaustion made it through the ranks, especially 2d Platoon who suffered the heaviest losses in Bastogne. Malarkey, who was in no condition to be leading the platoon was replaced by Lt. Jones and Martin, thankfully. After losing five of his best friends in Bastogne, it was clear he was falling victim to battlefield fatigue. Rebecca checked in on him every once in a while to make sure he was doing alright, but even his most adamant protests indeed showed he was not.

Finally, Dick knocked on her door.

"Hey." She greeted, sitting up in bed, "What's the word."

Dick had grown more tired as the war progressed, Rebecca could tell. His young and handsome face was accompanied by new worry lines and dark circles. Those, however, were attributed to stress, today, he seemed off, somehow. Perhaps it was the patrol on his mind.

"Col. Sink has instructed you are to stay behind tonight only to come if a medic is called," Dick informed flatly.

Rebecca was instantly ticked off. She felt her place was to be with the men. After all, she'd been through with Easy Company, she couldn't understand why Col. Sink was airing on the side of caution now.

"Are you serious? That's just so typical of him! Most of 2d Platoon was chosen for this, why not me too?" She fumed.

Not even bothering to address her complaints, Dick looked at Rebecca with an expression she had never seen him wear on his face before. Dick looked disappointed, angry, and sad all at the time. "Sink mentioned an offer from the 326th Medical. He wants to know if you've changed his mind."

Rebecca was stunned by Dick's dismissal and lack of understanding. Usually, he was always someone Rebecca could trust to get a level-headed outlook on things. Now, she got the impression Dick agreed with Sink.

"No, no. I'm not changing my mind." She retaliated, "Is that why he doesn't want me to go?" She petulantly asked.

No answer.

"Dick?"

"That's right." He curtly responded.

Hearing Dick's tone made Rebecca grow more indignant. "I'm sorry, do you have a problem with my choice?"

Suddenly, something inside Dick's mind snapped. His reason and composure standard to him throughout the war was traded for aggravation. Dick was furious and wasn't going to hold it back, even for Rebecca.

"What I have a problem with is your recent impulsivity," Dick retorted, "After Sink offered you a once in a lifetime opportunity, you not only turned it down, but you thought it was appropriate to run after Easy, through machine-gun fire."

Rebecca was quickly rendered speechless by Dick's outburst. Her slightly gaped as he continued his ranting.

"Now, you're giving another opportunity to accept an offer that will guarantee your safety for the rest of the war and you have the gall to ask me where you'll be during the patrol!"

Speechlessness pushed aside, Rebecca fought back. "You're pissed I didn't take a job where I would've been a desk jockey playing fetch for some Colonel for the rest of the war?

Rebecca felt her face heating up as anger bubbled inside of her.

"Twice, you shot down a chance to fast-track your career in the Airborne!" Chastised Dick, throwing his hands around.

"I didn't join the Airborne for a career!" Rebecca yelled, "I joined to send money home to my dying father. Well, guess what? He's dead now, and if you don't mind, I would like to spend the remainder of the war with the only family I have left!"

Sadness and anger ran through Rebecca as she dug at old scars. She never wanted to think about any of those things and couldn't understand why Dick was admonishing her.

"I thought you of all people would understand," Rebecca shot back, angry tears pricking at her eyes.

"I'm the last person you should've thought would understand."

Dick's remark tore through Rebecca like a hot knife. "So, all that crap you said about being proud of me and how you were glad I was by your side was all bullshit?"

She briefly remembered their night together in Paris. A lot of things were discussed before they both fell asleep. Among those things were how the felt towards one another and both admitted they had strong feelings towards one another. Now, it was like Dick was taking back what he said.

"I meant every word, but you don't understand that every waking minute of the day, I'm terrified you'll end up being Easy's next causality. Ever since the incident in Holland, I knew I couldn't live without you." He admitted, the fervor to argue leaving him.

Rebecca knew Dick was hurting but she was too. But they made promises to each other. Rebecca was not Dick's to take care of.

"Dick, we are not together." She mumbled, her voice breaking.

His pleading eyes met Rebecca's anguished ones. Her tears were now running down her face. "I think you should go."

Dick looked down towards the floor. "Yeah, I should."

Just as he turned around, he looked at Rebecca one more time. Dick realized he had sincerely hurt the woman he loved.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know this was a short chapter but I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless! Please, let me know how you guys are liking the story thus far. We're beginning to wind down Rebecca's story and your feedback means everything! More is to come, I promise!


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